A Nightmare in Central Park
by cuddles1234XD
Summary: Families arrive at the zoo and with each family new problems arise. Sry i really suck at summaries. the bigining of the story might suck some but its geats better i promise! # i striving for something good with this story.
1. The first memory

_**I'm sorry. I really am. I know I have other things to write about (not to make it sound like I have a bajillian stories to work on. Haven't even reached double digits yet)But I couldn't help it. And yes a little FYI this does include another version of Skippers' family. But hey I have many more than just three. You might find out about them some day. One more hint, hint before the story gets started. Who says a penguin can't have siblings. Though I have to admit, five kids is a lot. Mwahahaha!**_

_**Ehhem. Enjoy. **_

"I'm sorry Marlene but it's not possible." Kowalski argued.

"It is possible old chap. The transfer says that one of you has an unnatural sized family." Mason replied calmly.

"Well the transfer's wrong. Penguins don't have big families like that." Kowalski said annoyed. A penguin had one sibling if any. It was impossible for a family of penguins to have five kids. It was just impossible.

Skipper had remained silent. He didn't help Kowalski argue. He wasn't one to lie. The truth was, Mason was right. The transfer wasn't wrong. There was a family of seven penguins. It seemed so wrong. But it wasn't a lie. He knew. Because he was the youngest. The youngest of five. And people were wrong when they said newbies got all the attention. His parents gave out equal attention. It seemed hard as his older siblings were always competing for affection. He didn't know why either. Skipper was always fine with the amount of love he received. It was enough for him. He never understood why he should compete when it didn't work. Sara didn't compete either. There were upsides to being the youngest, you learned quicker than the older ones. The bad thing was that you were the main target. He had burst through the door to their house so many times when he was a kid. Inside he was safe. As long as he hung around his parents. But there were other times that he didn't make it to the door. That was scary. He was tormented pick on, the basic youngest sibling shenanigans. Stupid stuff. His siblings never broke any of his bones. On purpose anyway. And Sara never hurt him. Not once. He did have fun with his siblings too though. He was part of a wacky family. His parents were pretty weird too. Every one of their names started with the letter 'S'. There was Sam, Sammy, Steve, Sara, and himself, Skipper. 'S', 'S', 'S', 'S', 'S'. He didn't understand that. But he didn't mind it either. He liked his family. No matter how weird they were.

He knew every one of his family members by heart. Even after all these years. Sam was the oldest. He was the strong one. He absolutely hated when people said his name wrong. He didn't like to be called Samuel or Sammy. He would only go by three names. Sam, Kid, and Boy. And he didn't have a problem with their father calling him Son. Sam was a gentleman. He didn't date because so many girls liked him that it wouldn't be fair to have a girlfriend. A lot of girls drooled over him. He was nice, tame, and didn't hit on anyone. Most of all he wasn't afraid to be who he was. He was a mild tempered person, but he didn't laugh a lot. He smiled and grinned or chuckled sometimes. But it was rare to ever see him laugh. He taught Skipper that you don't have to laugh all the time to be happy. Sam was a very happy person. Just not obnoxiously so. And although he was mild tempered, Sam had his spouts of anger, as all kids do. He would fight with their father or get in trouble with someone every now and then. He was only a gentleman at school and when he worked, otherwise he was still a kid at heart. He was good at getting on peoples good sides so he never really got in trouble. He just got caught. Overall Sam was a good, normal kid. But he would chase Skipper and torment him, and he would steal things sometimes, so he wasn't an angel. He was wild, they all were. Just in different ways.

Sammy was the oldest girl. She was nice but not favored by guys. Sam was her brother so she wouldn't drool over him. She probably wouldn't anyway. She didn't like guys mostly because there weren't many gentlemen in their small town. Her friends were just like her. They didn't drool over Sam. Sammy was usually calm. She minded her own business most of the time. She didn't try too hard in school, averaging her scores on tests and overall grades to stay under the radar. She didn't like when people noticed her. Her and her friends liked to keep a low profile. They weren't gothic or suicidal. They were actually quite happy living without the drama. One thing that Sammy hated was being called by her real name. Samantha. It was too girly for her. And truth be told no one believed it was her real name anyway. She acted like a tomboy. She was one. She liked being active and doing things herself. Wasn't afraid to go on if everyone else backed out. She was brave, by the standards of women in the town. Like their mother. She would climb mountains with the guys, her friends would too. They were the only tomboys in the town. The other girls were sissy's. The guys never messed with Sam. She was clever and could hurt them without being caught. All the guys knew that. But she wasn't evil. If she hurt someone she had a reason. For example, she tormented Skipper because he was her brother. It was a reason after all. She did know when to stop though. She and Sam both knew where Skippers breaking point was. They respected it and kindly backed off before going too far. Sammy was a nice, strong girl, who also knew how to be herself but preferred to stay under the radar with school drama.

Steve was the middle child. He didn't get the neglect that middle children usually claim to get. Their parents treated each one of them equally, even though they each had their own problems. Steve was pretty wild. He was the trouble maker of the family. The class clown too. He wasn't favored by teachers. But the town workers liked him. To them, Steve brought laughter to a normally boring painfully slow day. And he was favored by classmates too. He knew how to make people smile and laugh at himself. He liked doing so. He never fell victim to embarrassment. And their parents weren't too hard on him for disrupting class. He got good grades even though he acted like he didn't pay attention. He also knew when enough was enough or if a teacher was having a bad week and he needed to give them a break. Steve was smart. He knew how to make even the teachers smile. He could make the most uptight, angry, businessman laugh. He had a real talent. But he was wacky. He sometimes didn't stop the funny business even when he knew he should. He wanted to have fun all the time and no one else did. He and their mother fought a lot about that. He didn't have an off switch. Grounding was actually his off switch. Or the threat of grounding. Steve was the happiest one in the entire family. He was the most hyper one too. He was the kid who bounced off walls. And as for the troublemaker part. He would take things while everyone was watching and go somewhere in sight but out of reach. People loved him and hated him. He could be funny, but also annoying. And he laughed all the time, at his own corny jokes. He was an annoying brother, but nice to have around at the same time. Good for when one of them was feeling blue. But, he also helped in the tormenting of Skipper. And Sara too. They all tormented Sara too.

Sara was very calm. She was shy and did well minding her own business. She liked being in solitude at school and when she was away from the house. She had only one friend, but she preferred to walk with or talk to Skipper. He was her true friend. She knew that she could trust him. Sara was also a good student. Well average even when she tried her best. She did have trouble in school sometimes. But everyone does at some point. She always seems fragile. Like if she was knocked over she would shatter into a million pieces. But she isn't made of glass. And she can hold her feelings inside her very well. She only talks to Skipper and Sammy about her feelings. Some of them bubble inside of her all day like steam from boiling water. Aching to escape the cover and be released. She was also a very talented artist. She would normally draw before talking to anyone. She was an inside person. She kept herself presentable and quiet. Presentable. She was good at acting like an angel. The truth was, she was an angel. She was sweet and loving around other people, but shy around kids her own age. Kids were jerks until they were older. She realized that quick and decided to wait for the kids around her to mature before she let herself out. Maybe that was a good thing. Sara was normally open with their parents. She told them what she did and her basic feelings. She went more in depth with Sammy, even more with Skipper. She was calm and collected most of the time. Mild mannered. She wasn't afraid of presentations or doing projects for school and letting everyone see them. She was just afraid to talk one on one with other kids. Sara liked to watch things. She liked sitting up somewhere and watching the world go on around her. She didn't feel out of place or in the way. She just liked watching things, not having to worry about being part of the world that she was watching. For the time being. Sara was a mild, quiet, shy little girl. But she knew who she was, even if she didn't show it to everyone. She knew that one day she would be able to show the world. But she also knew how to wait. How to be patient, controlled. She knew how to bottle her feelings and let them out later. Open the bottle to people who would respect her outlook on life and the problems that she was facing.

She and Skipper had a lot in common. They were also opposites.

Skipper had learned the hard way that kids are jerks. And he paid the price. He had bullies and was a constant target. But Sara and Sammy helped see passed it. He didn't have any friends growing up. His only friend was Sara. They spent a lot of time together and enjoyed it. They didn't need friends. They both liked watching the world turn as they looked down from above. They were both good climbers. Both quiet. And after a while, Skipper learned to bottle his emotions too. Letting them out to people who would help him with them. Sara. He and Sara would often just sit up somewhere high above the people of their small town and watch, talking about what bothered them, giving each other advice, listening. Skipper was mild mannered too, most of the time. He could be wild like Steve. That's a trait that separated him from Sara. He wasn't a complete angel, though he made a first impression that he was an angel. He would let himself get hyper, even though he knew he should control himself and most times wanted to. But he didn't want to be a copy of Sara. He knew that people who are exactly the same get annoyed with each other. And he didn't want to get annoyed with Sara. They had fun together. He liked talking to her and playing with her. It didn't take much to make himself different though. He was naturally different. More like Steve than Sara was. He could make Sara laugh better than anyone else. Even Steve. Sara laughed around Steve. It wasn't fake either. But Steve was a really funny guy. Sara needed softer happiness sometimes. And Skipper could do that. Skipper and Sara made each other happy.

In a family of five siblings there are usually three groups. The targets, the civils, and the tormentors. Sara and Skipper were the constant targets, that never changed. Steve was border lined between Tormentor and civilian. He would join the tormenting some days. Other days he would ignore it. It depended on whether or not he felt like joining. And you could never predict when he would just pass by or jump in. Sara and Skipper did a lot of sibling bonding with Sammy. She may have been an all-out tomboy, but she was also very understanding and a great secret keeper. They all shared different bonds with each other. Each one having different strengths and weaknesses. They all knew how to have fun as siblings, all five laughing together. Playing games or running around or even driving their parents insane and getting grounded for a month or two. They knew how to have fun as a whole. Or gang up on their parents. Both were fun.

Their parents, Max and Maria, were good parents. Max was a pretty loving father. But he was the punisher. Or the more strict punisher. He would give you a real beating if he had enough reason. But he knew what punishment to give and how bad it needed to be. Very smart man. He also knew how to be a loving father. And how to ignore some things. He knew when someone was keeping a secret and could tell whether or not he needed to chase it or leave it alone. In the end he always knew what was going on, even if it was just the basics. He was the school man too. He struggled to make a better life for his family before Sam hatched. Struggled being the key word. It was hard for him because he didn't know a lot of things. He dropped out at a young age and went to work. Not a very smart move. So he made sure they all were educated. So they wouldn't have to struggle the way he had.

Maria was the nicer one. She was capable of a feared punishment but usually didn't like to resort to it. He had the bossiness of a hospital nurse. Making sure everyone was healthy and energized. Anything could happen. She was a preparer. She liked to know that if something happened everyone would be able to snap to their wits and not run around like a scared little child. Even thou Sara and Skipper were still little children. She made sure they were ready too. Not to fight. No, to hide efficiently and quietly and stay hidden. Prepared for the worse. But she also made sure they could forget about worrying and be carefree. She believed that if a child knows what to do they will be prepared and as long as they can pull the knowledge from their brain, have the right to forget about troubles. She believed that every child had the right to be carefree. She, unlike Max, wanted to know details. So just basics hardly worked for her. Skipper and Sara were angles by second nature. So they were able to fool her without really trying to or even fully meaning to. Seeing her kids happy was usually enough for her.

All seven of them made a good family. Others would probably think that they were a family of wierdos and misfits. But that's what they were. And they were completely content with that. After a while everyone else would be too.

"Skipper. Skipper. Skipper!" Kowalski called. Skipper seemed distracted, dazed. And he wasn't answering to his own name. Something was wrong.

Skipper shook his family out of his head. For now. He could wait a little longer to tell everyone. The transfer papers weren't mistaken. A family of penguins could be as big as seven lives. It was possible. And he had six people who could back up that fact. But right now he decided to keep that tid bit of information to himself. "What?" He asked still a little captured by thoughts.

"Are you alright?" Mason asked, concerned. Skipper didn't seem the type to just lose himself in thoughts like that.

"Is there something wrong?" Marlene asked. Skipper never zoned out. There was something fishy going on inside his head.

"No. I'm fine." Skipper replied calmly. They didn't need to know. Yet.

"Are you sure?" Marlene asked giving him another chance.

Skipper eyed Marlene. She wanted something from hm. Information. She wanted to know what he had lost himself in. sadly for her she would have to wait to receive that information. "I'm sure Marlene." He replied, still eyeing her. Maybe she was being too curious.

Marlene rolled her eyes. "Yeah ok." She remarked. "When did you say this even was taking place Mason?" She asked.

"Three weeks from now. For two months. Then everyone goes home and life continues." Mason replied.

They went on talking more about that. But Skipper didn't pay attention.

_Three weeks? Why not just shoot me and get it over with. My family is going to drive everyone insane. Or at least Steve will. Kowalski will be stunned. Or driven insane by the pure fact that I have four siblings. I have four siblings. This is going to be a disaster. And I can't stop it this time. It would seem to suspicious. And maybe seeing them again won't be so bad. I mean they've changed a little. They had to have changed at least a little hopefully. Maybe not Sara. She's the only one that I'd be fine with staying the same. If Sam acts the same it would be weird. No one is going to drool over him here. And Samantha might actually be able to get along if she hasn't changed. Marlene might like her. Then again if she hasn't changed Ringtail's going to die. Steve…he's probably going to drive everyone up a wall. _Skipper thought.

"Yo! Hey! Skipper!" Marlene shouted.

Skipper blinked shaking away from his thoughts again. He stared at her. What did she want now?

"What's up with you? Why can't you pay attention today? You're usually the one who's most focused at these info things. Now you're acting worse than Julian." Marlene stated.

Julian perked up at the sound of his name.

"So I'm…a little distracted. I'm allowed to be." Skipper replied defensively. He didn't have to be focused all the time.

"Yeah. But you never are. So what's up?" Marlene asked harshly.

Everyone stared at him. He didn't understand why it was such a big deal. Jeez. You'd think it was against the law for him to be unfocused. "Nothing Marlene." He replied calmly. "I'm allowed to be distracted."

"By what?" Marlene asked, not buying the fact that there was nothing serious on his mind.

Skipper thought to come up with an excuse. He found one. But it really wasn't an excuse. He had thought about it when the topic was first mentioned. "Think about it Marlene. Everyone has a family. Everyone's family is going to be crammed into this zoo. Not everyone one is going to get along. You may want to kill your own families. Different families don't tend to get along very well at first. And we don't need an all-out brawl the first few days of their arrival. You aren't the one who is going to be called for help. To solve the problems or to stop fights from becoming wars. And we'll have our own families to worry about. Think about that. How many problems pop into your head. And double them. That, if gone unsolved will create pandemonium. A perfect disaster. This zoo isn't big enough for that. So I think I have the right to distract myself with thoughts." He finished.

Marlene didn't exactly know what to say to that. But what he said just made her angry. He could turn any bad situation that he was in and turn the tables completely without seeming to try very hard. It annoyed her. "Who asked you to solve our problems?" She asked hatefully.

"Most of the time. You do." Kowalski replied.

"Or we hear something, go to it then get asked to help." Private added.

Marlene growled. She really hated their problem solving abilities. It made everyone else look like cowards and idiots. He marched up to Skipper. "I know that's not the real problem." She growled, poking his chest. "And I'm going to find out what it is." Then she marched out.

Skipper was confused, and concerned. Marlene was angry because… he had told her a perfect excuse? What was it? He never could fully understand her. He was concerned because she had seen through the excuse. That wasn't good. But although he didn't want to. He would just have to wait and see. He had three weeks to tell them about his family. But that wouldn't be enough time. He just knew it.

"Well?" Mason asked. "So who is it?"

Skipper was still staring at the door of the zooveneer shop. "No one. It must be a mistake." He replied calmly, not really thinking. "I think we can end this now. Is there anything else Mason?" Skipper asked looking up towards the chimp.

Phil scanned a piece of paper. He shook his head.

"Nope." Mason replied. "Looks like we don't have to stay here."

Skipper nodded. They all went back to their habitats.

But he couldn't stop thinking about them. Hoping they changed a little but not a lot. Hoping that they were still his family.


	2. Clocktower confesion

Skipper couldn't stop thinking about her that night. Sara. When he was separated. Stolen. She had looked so heartbroken. He had seen her. They had showed her to him. To torture him. She was crying. And no one could calm her down. No one could heal the wound that those people gave her, them, both of them, when they took him. He saw later on. They took Sam. And Samantha. Then they took Steve. But after seeing it all. The people that really broke his heart to see were his parents. His mother. She was ten times worse than Sara was. Skipper remembered wanting blood for what those people did to his family. They tortured them. Him, Steve, Sam, Samantha. Those people tortured all four of them. But no amount of pain could ever come close to the heart break staring at his mother and sister gave him. Nor could anything amount to how proud he was of his father. A man who knew better than to give in to his own emotions. He held together and was there for the remnants of his family. But when Sara was finally taken…he lost it too. Skipper had to watch as his father finally broke. His mother was frantic. But he had never seen his father in so much pain.

That is what he thought about all night long. His family, how they were separated. And all the good times they had together. And maybe he was starting to look forward to seeing them again. Changed or not. They were his family. Just to know that they were alive was something. And if he knew they were alive. Nothing else would matter. He needed to see them one more time before he died. He would hope to see them more than one more time before he died. But just once. One more time before he died he wanted to be a family again. He wanted his older siblings to torment him one more time. He wanted Sara and him to watch the world go round and talk one more time. He wanted to see Steve all hyped up about nothing one more time. And he wanted to see his parents smile at them all. Just once. Just one more time. And he would be set for the rest of his life.

_Let these three weeks pass. _Skipper thought, looking out at the city from the top of the clock tower. _Let them go by. I don't…care anymore. _

He didn't. Family was family. No matter how wacky or weird or annoying they were. No matter how stupid or infuriating or doubtful or ignorant they were. Family was family. And he was curious. To see if he was right. To see if having everyone's family crammed into this little zoo was going to end is disaster. Or if it wouldn't be so bad after all.

"Hey." Marlene said calmly walking over to Skipper. She didn't expect to see him here. He had been on watch for the past three nights. She was up here to look out on the city herself.

"Hey." Skipper replied. She had calmed down since the meeting in the zooveneer shop. That was good.

"I thought it would be someone else's turn." Marlene stated. "Don't you ever get tired?"

"Not really. I do. Just not when my mind's racing." Skipper admitted.

"Oh. Yeah, speaking of thoughts, what was really on your mind at the shop?" Marlene asked curiously.

Skipper sighed. _Why not?_ He asked himself. "What Mason and Kowalski were arguing about." He started.

"What about it?" Marlene asked.

"Mason was right. It's the transfer. It wasn't a mistake." Skipper replied.

"What do you mean?" Marlene asked confused. What was he talking about? She thought that Kowalski was right.

Skipper took a deep breath. "It's unnatural, I know." He looked at Marlene. "But it's what I grew up with."

"What!" Marlene asked surprised and shocked. Did he just admit to having an unnatural sized family?

Skipper laughed a short laugh. "That was, is, my family." He said.

Marlene sat down next to Skipper and looked out. "And where do you fit? I mean where are you in all of that?" Marlene asked.

It took a minute. But Skipper figured out what she was trying to ask. "Oh, uh… Yeah. Well. I'm actually the youngest." He grinned wearily at her. "And before you even ask the torment was almost every day. But we were still a family, and we still all had a lot of fun. All together." He looked down. He had the most fun with Sara. He really missed her. She had always been there. They were there for each other. Thinking about her brought knots to his stomach.

"Is that what you were so distracted by?" Marlene asked calmly. She smiled at him, even though he didn't look at her. He missed his siblings. He really had a heart in him. Truthfully he looked like he was about to cry.

"It was." He looked up at her. Her smile was already replaced with curiosity. He never saw her smile. "But you were the only one who saw straight through my excuse."

"It was a good excuse. I'll give you that." Marlene complemented. It was a pretty good excuse. And it was something that he would be distracted by.

"But you saw it as an excuse and not a reason. You knew that it wasn't what was really bothering me. That's pretty smart. But it wasn't a lie. I did think about it when the conversation started. That's why I didn't have to think very hard to find it." Skipper explained. He looked back out at the city. Sara. She kept coming into his mind, She was the reason why he liked looking out on things. Rivers, canyons, forests, cities, anything. It reminded him of the good times he had with his sister.

Marlene studied him for a few minutes. He seemed tired. His body language confirmed it. He was hunched over. Too tired to keep himself upright. His eyes were red. Bloodshot. And he looked sad. Skipper never looked happy. Not at night anyways. He did look somewhat happy during the day. "You need to sleep Skipper." She stated getting up. She yawned. "Or at least lay down." She jumped down and went back to her habitat to sleep herself.

Skipper knew that Marlene was right. But he didn't think he could sleep. He did feel tired. And his body did feel weak. Maybe he could try to sleep. He yawned. Yeah he needed to at least try.

He jumped down from the clock tower and went back to the habitat. He went down the latch door and into an empty bunk. Try. He didn't need to. It was like his body and mind took a sigh of relief and forced him into a deep sleep. He needed that sleep.

When he woke up it was six o'clock in the morning. He felt rested, but he had only slept for six hours. He thought that he would oversleep. But he was wide awake. And it was only Six o'clock.

He got up from his bunk and stretched. He made some coffee and sat down at the table. He looked up at them. They were still sleeping. Not minding what happened in the outside world. The real world. Involved in dreams where anything and everything was possible. They didn't have any worries. And even when they woke up they wouldn't have any worries. No, that was his job. And he knew it all too well. He was already thinking about how many things could go wrong today. Most of them included the lemurs. And then his mind switched to three weeks down the line. Pandemonium. He saw himself being killed. He saw himself being pummeled, beaten to a pulp, torn apart. He didn't think he was going to be liked. Not by Kowalski's family, or Rico's or Privates. He was teaching them how to fight. How to defend themselves. And he knew that he was going to get hurt for doing so. It wasn't going to change anything.

He looked up at the clock. Six, twenty-seven. They still had time to sleep.

He woke them up at seven o'clock. The same time the zoo opened. Everyone went about their normal routines. Everything went back to normal after a week. Everyone seemed to forget about the transfer. Everyone except Skipper. Skipper couldn't get it out of his mind. He was able to make everyone believe he was fine. His regular paranoid self. They believed that he was acting normal. It wasn't very hard to pretend. It was something he did every day. He could duplicate his average behavior in his sleep.

The next time everyone was reminded of the transfer was a week and a half before its due date. Everyone became jittery. Like the world was about to change.

It was. Everyone was going to be in for a surprise. And not the good kind. Life in the zoo was about to become a living nightmare. Of course everything would be great at first. But as people got closer and fights got worse, a nightmare would be born.

The nightmare in Central Park.

And Skipper knew it was coming. He was the only one who wasn't jittery, but nervous instead.


	3. thruth

Two days before the transfers came in. Everyone was preparing. The zoo workers had temporarily expanded the zoo. The made more habitats outside of the zoo walls. Dug holes in the ground. Created entire habitats that looked like they had always been there. They were able to expand the zoo quite well. The inhabitants of the zoo were making their homes presentable.

The penguins didn't have to do anything. Their habitat was usually spick and span anyway. They were all talking giddily about hoping their families would like each other and like the zoo and etc. Skipper was sitting at the table holding his head up with one of his flippers. He was tracing the top of his empty coffee mug with his other flipper. He was happy that his family was coming. He wanted to see them again. But he worried about the zoo. Everyone in it. Their families would have objections. Fights would break out. And everyone would come crying to him and the guys. He would probably handle it alone though. He knew that someone in his family would cause a fight. Probably Steve or Sam. He didn't want to know if his family had changed. He didn't know what to expect. That just added to his nervousness.

Kowalski didn't notice Skipper. Rico didn't either. It was Private who realized Skippers upset mood.

"Aren't you happy Skippah?" Private asked happily.

"Huh? Oh. Yeah I'm," He paused. "Happy." He sighed. He was. And he wasn't.

"Are you sure about that?" Private asked.

Skipper smiled at Private. "Affirmative." He replied.

"Then why do you look so sad?" Private asked curiously.

"I'm not sad." Skipper said defensively.

"Then what?" Private pushed.

"I'm nervous." Skipper admitted.

"Nervous?" Kowalski asked. "When do you get nervous?"

Skipper glared at him. Why couldn't he be nervous? He couldn't daydream, or be nervous. What next? Are they going to say he can't die? "I can be nervous Kowalski." He hissed.

"Ok then. Why?" Kowalski challenged.

Skipper didn't know how to reply to that. So he looked back down at his empty coffee mug. How was he going to explain it? He had four older siblings. It wasn't shocking to him. It was what he had lived with. It was odd. And it would shock them too much to just say. What was he supposed to say? 'I'm concerned about the amount of people coming. Oh and I have four siblings.' He didn't see that going well.

Kowalski got suspicious. Skipper always answered a direct question. He never ignored a question. Something was wrong. "Skipper?" Kowalski asked carefully. "Why are you nervous?"

Skipper looked up at him. Kowalski had become suspicious. Great. He sighed. He could tell them. They were understanding. Hopefully.

"Well?" Private asked, wanting to know what was wrong.

"Do you remember the argument you had with Mason three weeks ago?" Skipper asked slowly.

"I do. Why?" Kowalski replied cautiously.

He laughed nervously. "You were wrong." He stated.

"I was wrong? About wh- oh. I get it." Kowalski said as he figured out the meaning of what Skipper was saying. "You think that there's a possibility that a penguin can have four siblings don't you?" Kowalski paused. Giving room for an answer. "You're wrong Skipper. A penguin usually only has one, maybe two kids."

Skipper laughed. "Of course. What was I thinking?" He laughed.

Private, Rico, and Kowalski shared looks of confusion.

"Um…" Rico said, trying to figure out how to ask if Skipper had gone crazy.

"Kowalski, all of you actually. I hate to burst your bubbles but, it's possible for a penguin to have four siblings." He stated calmly.

"Oh yeah?" Kowalski challenged. "Name one."

Skipper smiled. Perfect. That's what he was waiting for. "You're looking at one."

All three of their mouths dropped.


	4. reactions

"That-That-that was your family!" Kowalski asked shocked. How could he not say anything until now? They were coming in three days. Three days!

"Well…yeah" Skipper replied hesitantly. He was still afraid of their reactions.

"Why didn't you say something sooner?" Private asked calmly. He could've said something earlier than today.

"I didn't know how to say it. It's not exactly an easy thing to say. And before you ask, I didn't say anything three weeks ago because I didn't want to be attacked by questions." Skipper explained. He didn't. Not with everyone leaning in waiting for the answers. No he couldn't set himself up for that.

Kowalski shook his head. "Why didn't you interfere with my argument with Mason if you knew who was right?" He asked. Skipper could've ended that conversation.

Skipper sighed. "I'm sorry Kowalski. I couldn't. I-I. You should've known already I know. I should've told you guys earlier. But I-I couldn't. Not in front of everyone. I didn't need to be harassed with questions." Skipper explained apologetically. He really should've told them sooner. He knew that.

"What was it like?" Private asked innocently. He was curious to know what it was like to like with four other siblings. He had one. And she was a monster. Britney was her name. She was one of those preppy, snotty girls. He didn't believe they were related some times. He hoped with all his heart that she had changed. At least a little bit.

Skipper sighed.

"Was it torturous? Or calmer, or painful?" Kowalski asked.

"All of it." Skipper replied. "They're my siblings so yeah they tried to kill me. But I think I have to explain them first. Well actually the first thing you should know is that all our names start with 'S'. From oldest to youngest its, Sam, Sammy, Steve, Sara, and me." He explained.

"Wait." Private interrupted. "You were the youngest? Of five?" He asked. He felt bad for Skipper. Fife older siblings must've been terrible.

"I was. But Sara was always confused to be my twin. She was the same height same attitude most days, and we both tended to like the same things. And we were both terrorized by the other three. We never fought. Not once. Sam was mild, but he was also a rebel. Ticked my father off all the time. Sammy was a tomboy. She had two girlfriends. The rest were guys. And it showed. Steve was a clown. But he was wild. Then there was me and Sara. We were the shy ones. We would rather sit up somewhere and watch everyone walk around. Rather talk than gossip. We could pull off the calm and cute act. What our parents knew about the two of us only scratched the surface of who we were. We were god at keeping secrets. Especially with each other. Samantha, Sammy, was the only one who knew we kept so many secrets from everyone else. She would know every detail about some of them. And she kept her mouth shut." Skipper explained. He could've gone into more detail. But that would take too long. So he kept it short, sweet, and to the point.

"Didn't you two ever get picked on?" Kowalski asked. It was a normal question really.

"All the time. We didn't have any friends. Not one. No one cared for two little kids. And we were shy. We never went up to people. We had each other. We were alike in many ways yes, but we were different enough to actually never get bored with one another." Skipper looked down at his cup. He was extremely curious to know how his family turned out after all these years.

"So you and your sister got pounded on by everyone?" Private asked. That must've been a rough childhood.

"Yup. But I think it just made our bond stronger. And the others did more than just pound on us. Our older siblings did have hearts you know. We were capable of having fun together, all five of us. Especially with Steve. He's a clown. He could make anyone laugh." Skipper replied.

"Ok. So yojkl chilldep froange stuk." Rico stated.

"No it didn't. My childhood wasn't half bad Rico." Skipper replied calmly. "I just can't help wondering what they've become. It's almost frightening."

"We all feel that way Skippah." Private said. His sister hopefully changed.

"We know nothing about what our family is now." Kowalski agreed.

"Well be prepared boys. Someone's going to start a brawl. And you know who's gonna be called to stop it." Skipper warned.

"Yeah." Kowalski sighed. "Us."

_**Sorry it's so short. I was having trouble with moving it along. The next chapter will be longer.**_


	5. the forced confession

The next night (two days before the arrival of every ones families) Marlene called a meeting. Skipper hadn't told everyone the truth yet. And he was going to have to tell them before they had a heart attack when his family arrived.

"What's this for Marlene?" Skipper asked curiously. Marlene didn't usually call meetings. Julian did. Unless there was some change, or event happening, then Mason would usually call it. But Marlene never, ever, called a meeting. Skipper was curious to know why, and very suspicious of her reasons.

"It's for you Skipper," Marlene replied slyly.

"Me?" Skipper asked confused, "Why-" He didn't understand at first. But he figured it out. She wanted him to say something. But what was it she wanted him to say exactly? He didn't have anything to share with everyone.

Marlene smiled at him, "You'll figure it out," She replied. Then she jumped onto the cash register counter and waited for everyone to quiet down. They became silent very quickly. "Great, now that I have your attention," She began, "Do you guys remember three weeks ago? The transfer papers?" She asked.

Most nodded or said some sort of reply. Most of them remembered.

Now Skipper knew. She wanted him to explain his family. That the transfer papers weren't wrong. She wanted him to stand up there and tell everyone that he was the youngest of five. She was out of her little fuzzy mind. There was no way he was going to do that. They would all find out in two days. They didn't need to know now.

"Well, I think I know someone who wants to clarify something," She continued. "The argument between Mason and Kowalski. I know someone who can give us a real answer to who was right." She looked over at Skipper through the corner of her eye and smiled. She could see it in his eyes, he knew what he was going to have to do now. "And that person-"

Skipper jumped up onto the counter and pulled Marlene aside. There had to be another way to do this. Well there were actually three options here. One, for him to just say it. Two for Marlene to make him say it. And three, not to do it at all. He liked the third option best. "Marlene," He whispered harshly, "What exactly do you think you're doing!"

"They need to know Skipper," Marlene whispered back. They did need to know. They couldn't wait until the day came to find out about Skippers family. It would be too shocking then.

"Not right now," Skipper argued. He wasn't going to tell them right now. No way.

"Yes now," Marlene snapped.

"Marlene, you don't understand. They won't understand," Skipper replied, trying to reason with her. They would think he was lying. He knew that for sure. They all heard Kowalski, penguins have one, maybe two kids. Definitely not five.

"How do you know?" Marlene challenged. There was no way he could know that they wouldn't understand. He hadn't told them anything like that yet. There was no possibly way he could know that for sure.

"I just know," He replied.

Joey was getting tired of waiting around, "EY! What are you blimies talkin' bout over there?" He asked loudly. His comment was followed by a few 'yeah's.

"One minute," Skipper replied loud enough for them to hear. "They all heard Kowalski. Penguins don't have more than two kids at most. They won't believe me," Skipper explained returning to whispering.

Marlene sighed; she wasn't going to argue with him anymore. She didn't want to, nor did she have to. "Well, you have two choices Skipper," She explained patiently, "You can tell them. Or I can."

Skipper looked into her eyes. They were fierce, focused. She wasn't kidding. He couldn't walk out of this. If he walked out of this, she would just tell them herself. He was going to have to tell them. He knew that he was going to have to now. But he had to make sure, "Marlene I'm not telling them," He replied harshly.

She smiled at him calmly. "Ok. You don't have to." She walked back towards the edge of the counter. "I think you'll all find this interesting," She started, glancing back at Skipper one more time. "Skipper-" She didn't get to finish.

Skipper didn't think twice, he heard his name and tackled Marlene off of the counter. As much as he didn't want to tell, there was no way in hell, he was going to let her tell them. She was right though. Either he told them, or she was going to. Both ways everyone found out about his unnatural sized family. She was making him talk, forcing him to. Blackmail was the right word. But she wasn't really using it against him. The tool for the blackmail, was what everyone was going to find out. So would it still be blackmail? He didn't know. But that wasn't important right now. Right now the important thing was that everyone was staring at him. He had every ones attention now. He looked over at Marlene. She had gotten up and was now part of the crowd that had formed a circle around him, curious as to why he tackled Marlene off the counter, and probably anything else he had to say.

And he just sat there and stared back at them. Feeling more and more like an idiot with each passing second.

He stood up and looked around the crowd. Yup, every animal in the zoo was here. At least he wouldn't have to repeat himself. He was stuck in the middle of an enclosed circle of curious animals. There was no way he was going to get out of this. That sucked.

He took a deep breath, and stared at Marlene. He had a feeling of severe hatred towards her at the moment. He'd get over it in an hour or so. But he was still mad at her. She could make things quite impossible at times. This was one of those times.

"Why'd you do that?" Private asked. Skipper didn't seem to have a reason. He just tackled Marlene. It was quite uncalled for. What had gotten into him?

"Well, I…Um," Skipper couldn't figure out how to explain. He didn't know how to start, or where to start.

"I could tell them if you want," Marlene suggested innocently.

"Shut up," Skipper snapped.

"What? Cat got your tongue Skipper?" She asked slyly.

Skipper growled in response. If it wasn't for her he wouldn't be in this situation. "No," He replied trying to hold onto his patience. "And in case you were wondering, I wouldn't be here if it weren't for you," he added hatefully.

"Skippah," Private said shocked. What was wrong with him? Why was he treating Marlene so badly? Or talking to her so… rudely?

"I know," Marlene replied, ignoring Privates comment.

"You're proud of that aren't you?" Skipper hissed. She was proud of the fact that she had gotten him into a situation that he could not get out of. She took pride in what she had done. That was actually quite a scary thought.

"Marlene smiled brightly at him. He was smart, not like Kowalski though. "Well, are you going to tell them or am I?" She pushed.

"Tell us what? Exactly?" Julian asked confused. What could Skipper possibly tell them?

"I would, but it's not all that easy Marlene." Skipper replied, with fake patience.

"Having trouble finding words? Are we, Skipper?" Marlene asked smugly.

Private got it now, they were getting to a point. And Marlene was making Skipper do something that he really did not want to do. Skipper wasn't being rude for no reason. He was angry with Marlene. It made sense.

"Having fun Marlene?" Skipper countered.

"Actually yeah. I'm finding this entertaining," She replied honestly. "Would you like some help?"

"Not from you," Skipper snapped. "You've already helped enough, thank you very much."

"Then say it," Marlene ordered strictly. He wasn't getting away from this. He was going to tell them. It was going to come out somehow.

Skipper knew he wasn't getting out of this. It didn't make things any easier. He still didn't know how to start. He still didn't know what to say. It was like the words were in his brain…but he couldn't find them. It was frustrating.

"Come on!" Marlene shouted impatiently, it couldn't possibly be that hard. "For crying out loud Skipper. Just say it!"

"It aint that easy sister!" Skipper shouted back, frustrated at his inability to find the right words, or any words at all.

"Skipper whatever it is, just say it," Kowalski chimed in calmly. Whatever he had to say, Marlene was obviously making him say it. He didn't want, and couldn't say what she wanted him to say, and was apparently becoming frustrated with it.

"COME ONE SKIPPER!" Marlene shouted.

Skipper couldn't take it anymore. Marlene was annoying him, he was angered at her, and he was frustrated that he couldn't find words to explain it. So he just said it. "GOD DAMIT! I HAVE FOUR SIBLINGS!" He shouted angrily and frustrated. "THERE! Are you happy now Marlene?" he said loudly, still angry. He didn't want to say it. And why?

Everyone burst out laughing. Like it was some kind of joke.

Skipper hated this. He didn't need to do this. He felt the anger inside of him rising. He felt his cheeks get hot with anger. He had to struggle to control himself. But even as he struggled he couldn't hold it all him. He growled at Marlene, glaring at her with eyes of pure hatred. She had made him go through all of that for nothing. Nothing! He closed his eyes, trying to separate himself from everyone else. So he could calm down at least a little bit. So he wouldn't rip some one's head of. He tried to ignore the laughing, he closed his eyes so he wouldn't see anyone… But he couldn't do it. He couldn't separate himself. He couldn't calm himself down. He was frustrated and angry and annoyed and he hated it. All of it. He hated being laughed at like this. He had just told them something very important. Something little to no one knew about him. And they were laughing. And he hated it.

He took deep breaths. One after another. Just in and out, breathe in and out. Luckily that calmed him down. By the time he had fully calmed down everyone had stopped laughing and were once again, staring at him.

He was looking back at them, seriously.

"You weren't kidding were you?" Maurice asked assumingly.

"No, I wasn't," Skipper replied calmly.

"Then the transfer papers weren't wrong?" Mason asked, confused.

"No, they weren't wrong," Skipper admitted.

"But that means-" Mason started.

"There are five of you!" Julian asked fearfully.

Skipper took a minute to let the question sink in. He almost burst out laughing. "Are you kidding me?" He asked, "They're nothing like me at all. At least I don't think they are," He replied.

"But you said that there were five of you?" Julian said confused. Did he misunderstand something somewhere?

"Julian. I said I had four siblings. When did I say there was five of me?" Skipper asked severely confused. Julian was a very odd person.

"Oh ok. You are a very odd penguin," Julian stated.

Skipper rolled his eyes.

"Tell us about them?" Mort asked innocently. He wanted to know about Skippers siblings that were nothing like him.

"Yeah tell us," Julian agreed.

"Come on tell us," Joey pitched in.

Skipper went off into a dead stare.

"Uh.. is he ok?" Someone asked.

Skipper remembered the first time he was beat up in school. He was surrounded by them. All seven of them. They were in Steve's class. They all wanted to know why Steve was suspended for a week. They wanted to know what he did. Skipper knew. But he wasn't going to tell. They were circling him chanting, 'Tell us squirt.' 'Yeah pipsqueak, tell us.' 'Come one loser tell us' what he'd doo weakling?' they kept saying it over and over again, calling him the same names. Pipsqueak, weakling, squirt, loser. Pipsqueak, weakling, squirt, loser. Weakling, loser. And then of course they beat him up. Sent him to the hospital. He had never actually been so afraid of the unknown when he was a kid.

Now of course he wasn't afraid of the unknown at all. Just extremely cautious.

He snapped back to reality and explained his family to them. His brothers, sisters, and parents. Once. Every question they seemed to have, was answered when he explained. They didn't ask him anything afterwards.

They gawked about it though. A seven membered, penguin family was un heard of. Extremely rare. And very odd. They talked about how weird it was, and how Skipper would have a family like that. Skipper didn't exactly get why he would be the one to have a family like that. Kowalski could've had an unnatural family too.

As they talked and talked about his weirdly sized family, eventually fading into their own families, Skipper walked to the window and looked up at the starry Sky. He and Sara used to do that a lot. It was the only thing they ever got in trouble for. They were both captivated by how many stars lived in the sky. Every star was a sky walker, a spirit. Every star was a life that had passed. A person who had died. Smaller stars were younger people. They used to sit up on the roof of their house and count the stars. They'd count the stars every night. There was always one thousand, five hundred and eighty three stars in the sky. Every time a star disappeared a baby was born, or hatched. Ever star that came on was a death. But every star was a life. A life that was cut off. No longer a part of the earth, but the sky. Stars were beautiful, they were magic and bright. Some were different colors sometimes. But no matter what, there were always 1,583 stars in the sky.

Skipper loved looking up at the stars at night. Even though only the bright ones could be seen in the city, he still liked the stars. They were a sign of peace and sanity in the world. They were memories painted in space. A million nights, spent on the roof of his home, with the one person who always meant the most to him. His sister. Sara.

Skipper sat on the windowsill and counted the stars. Each one he counted, brought a picture to his mind. A mental picture of his house, and the roof where he and Sara sat when they counted the stars. A picture of the night sky, the school, his family, him, the town moving along and teaming with life as he and Sara sat on a roof top and watched, talking. Memories that he liked. Memories that meant something to him. There were four hundred and fifteen stars in the city. Four hundred and fifteen memories to remember.

But only twenty four more hours to wait. After tomorrow, after the sun sank behind the horizon, and rose again one more time, then they would start to arrive.

Skipper found himself not caring what everyone else was like. All he found himself caring about was Sara. If she changed, he hoped it was for the best. He didn't want to find out that she had turned into a drunkie or overdosed on LSD or something. After that came the want. More than anything else, he wanted his family to still be his family.

But at the moment, all he could do was hope.

_**Yeah so that's the next chapter, not that anyone is reading this. This is not a popular story. But I will continue it for anyone who is reading so, don't worry. **_


	6. The Raven

He wanted to live up there, with the stars. He always did. He didn't want to worry about the world, he had always just wanted to climb the tallest tower or the biggest mountain, see all the stars in the sky. He wanted to take a rocket ship and get lost in space. But when he grew up, life swallowed him up. Like a whale feeding on shrimp. It just sucked him up…and he couldn't escape. When he was younger, he didn't want to do anything but watch the world go by. Now he was part of the world, he couldn't get away from it for ten minutes anymore.

Because the world was made of problems. Problems popped up everywhere. And he was a problem solver. He was good at it too. But he still wished he could sit up with the stars. Sit up with them and watch the world go around. He wanted to watch. There was no crime in just wanting to watch. He never wished on a star, though. Wishing on a star was useless. Spirits couldn't grant wishes. Only cause miracles. Stars were spirits, they had minds and hearts. They only granted miracles to those who would benefit from it. That's what he believed. He and his sister, that's why they watched the stars every night. Because they knew, stars were spirits; beautiful because they had hearts. Mean spirits were too far away to see from earth. Therefore, could not influence anything on earth. They were the ones who threw solar storms and asteroids at earth. They believed that. So they weren't science people. They believed in magic and spirits, and even voodoo and mind control. They believed in demons too, good and bad. They believed that good demons did exist. But they never shared that with anyone, only each other.

Kowalski was talking to Mason about Mason's brother.

"So he's nothing like you?" Kowalski asked.

"No, he's very uncivilized. Be warned, old chap, he may cause a lot of trouble," Mason replied.

"I think we'll be able to handle him," Kowalski said confidently. He looked up at the window and saw Skipper. No one was talking about him anymore. They had all gone into their own families. Skipper was sitting on the windowsill staring up at the sky. It was late, probably midnight. Skipper looked relaxed, completely calm. It seemed as if he had separated himself from the world. To Kowalski, Skipper seemed to want to be up there. He was staring up at the stars longingly. Or he had just gone into another trance, Skipper had been doing that quite frequently in the past week.

"I'll be right back Mason," Kowalski said walking towards the window. Skipper was bothered by something. He could tell by the way he looked. At first glance he looked relaxed. But Kowalski knew better. Skipper wasn't relaxed, he was thinking. He just wasn't very stressed. That's another thing that Kowalski thought was odd. In two days all hell might break loos at the zoo, and Skipper was completely calm. The normal Skipper that Kowalski knew, wouldn't be so relaxed. He'd be pacing the floors trying to come up with solutions to every problem he could think of. But no. Skipper was just sitting on the window sill watching the stars. Something had to be bothering him.

Kowalski made his way through the crowd, to the window. He jumped up and sat beside Skipper. Skipper didn't move. He made no sign that he knew Kowalski was there. He didn't even blink. He continued to stare longingly up at the stars.

Kowalski opened his mouth to say something, but was interrupted.

"You know, I used to do this every night. Just sit somewhere and watch the stars, count them. With Sara. But then, we always did that. Just sat somewhere and watched. Never wanted to be part of it. The world. Perfectly content with watching it turn without us. Without worry or stress. Without wondering how the next day would turn out, or week or month. Just wanted to sit, and talk, and watch. Never be part of anything. We didn't want the misery that came with it," Skipper said softly. He looked down at his feet. He knew Kowalski was there. He just couldn't focus at the moment. He realized something. He realized that for the past three weeks... all he really thought about was Sara. He didn't think of the problems that would come one after the other, or the fights that would break loose. He didn't think about the parents who would hate him for teaching their kids how to fight, heck he didn't even think of his own family. It was just Sara. He had worried so much about her.

"Skipper?" Kowalski asked calmly. He didn't understand at first. Then he realized, Skipper knew he was there. More than that, Kowalski figured out the meaning behind what Skipper just said. "You really don't want to find out she changed, do you?"

Skipper looked at Kowalski, "No, I don't. She was the one person who understood me. Who I really was," he replied.

"Can I ask you something?" Kowalski asked, looking up at the stars.

"What?" Skipper replied.

"Did you really do a lot with your sister? I mean as much as you make it seem?" Kowalski asked.

"Yes. We did a lot together. Talked, played games, we watched the world turn, watched the stars, recite poems. We-"

"You recited poems?" Kowalski asked.

"Well it was only a few," Skipper explained calmly. He didn't mind sharing this with Kowalski. Kowalski was trustworthy, he wouldn't tell anyone if Skipper asked him not to.

"Do you still know them?"

"Yes."

"What were they?"

"I don't remember the names completely. One of them I know was called _The Raven_, then there was another one…the weeping willow. I think. But there were more. Many more. Those two were our favorites though," Skipper explained solemnly. He only recently, truly realized how much he missed her.

"Do you still remember how they go?" Kowalski asked.

Skipper looked back up at the stars. "I do."

"The Raven? That's a long, old poem," Kowalski said amazed, "You can recite it?"

"You don't believe me?" Skipper countered.

"I'm sorry. But no, not really," Kowalski admitted. He didn't believe Skipper knew _The Raven_ by Edger Allen Poe. He didn't even know it. And Skipper never seemed like a poem guy.

"Fine a prove it to you.' He took a deep breath… and recited the poem.

"Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary,  
Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore,  
While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,  
As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door.  
"'Tis some visitor," I muttered, "tapping at my chamber door -  
Only this, and nothing more."

Skipper looked back up at the stars. Speaking soft and smoothly as he recited the poem. It was Sara's favorite poem. She had taught it to him. They would laugh at the mistakes they made reciting the poem.

Ah, distinctly I remember it was in the bleak December,  
And each separate dying ember wrought its ghost upon the floor.  
Eagerly I wished the morrow; - vainly I had sought to borrow  
From my books surcease of sorrow - sorrow for the lost Lenore -  
For the rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name Lenore -  
Nameless here for evermore."

Some of the animals heard Skipper and quieted, listening in amazement as he recited the poem. They couldn't believe he actually knew a poem by heart, let alone one like this.

"And the silken sad uncertain rustling of each purple curtain  
Thrilled me - filled me with fantastic terrors never felt before;  
So that now, to still the beating of my heart, I stood repeating,  
"'Tis some visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door -  
Some late visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door; -  
This it is, and nothing more."

Presently my soul grew stronger; hesitating then no longer,  
"Sir," said I, "or Madam, truly your forgiveness I implore;  
But the fact is I was napping, and so gently you came rapping,  
And so faintly you came tapping, tapping at my chamber door,  
That I scarce was sure I heard you"- here I opened wide the door; -  
Darkness there, and nothing more.

Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there wondering, fearing,  
Doubting, dreaming dreams no mortals ever dared to dream before;  
But the silence was unbroken, and the stillness gave no token,  
And the only word there spoken was the whispered word, "Lenore?"  
This I whispered, and an echo murmured back the word, "Lenore!" -  
Merely this, and nothing more.

Now half of everyone had stopped and listened. Looking up at Skipper and Kowalski sitting on the windowsill. Looking up with shock on their faces, at the fact that Skipper had memorized such a piece literature.

"Back into the chamber turning, all my soul within me burning,  
Soon again I heard a tapping somewhat louder than before.  
"Surely," said I, "surely that is something at my window lattice:  
Let me see, then, what thereat is, and this mystery explore -  
Let my heart be still a moment and this mystery explore; -  
'Tis the wind and nothing more."

Open here I flung the shutter, when, with many a flirt and flutter,  
In there stepped a stately raven of the saintly days of yore;  
Not the least obeisance made he; not a minute stopped or stayed he;  
But, with mien of lord or lady, perched above my chamber door -  
Perched upon a bust of Pallas just above my chamber door -  
Perched, and sat, and nothing more.

Then this ebony bird beguiling my sad fancy into smiling,  
By the grave and stern decorum of the countenance it wore.  
"Though thy crest be shorn and shaven, thou," I said, "art sure no craven,  
Ghastly grim and ancient raven wandering from the Nightly shore -  
Tell me what thy lordly name is on the Night's Plutonian shore!"  
Quoth the Raven, "Nevermore."

By this time the whole zooveneer shop was quiet, listening.

Skipper finished the poem and looked over at Kowalski. He was quite shocked. Skipper expected him to be. The only poems he remembered were the ones he had recited with Sara over and over, while they sat on Sal's fish shop in the middle of town. They had recited _The Raven_ on that roof many a time, watching people come and go. Until their mother called them down for supper.

Other than that, he wasn't a poem person.

"That's very impressive, Skipper," Mason complimented.

Skipper turned around. Everyone was staring at him. That, he didn't see coming. Everyone was ignoring him last time he checked. He didn't realize that they were all listening. It startled him a little bit.

"How do you know that so well?" Maurice asked.

"Umm…" Skipper replied, still a bit shocked and startled by the fact that everyone had heard him. "My-my sister and I used to recite it a lot," he explained hesitantly.

"Really?" Marlene asked. "You did a lot with her huh?"

Skipper took a deep breath. "Yes," he replied, calming down.

"Well that's-" Maurice started.

The zoo bells rang. They signaled that the time was five o'clock a.m. the zoo would open in two hours.

Everyone left. Running back to their habitats. Hurrying to get at least some sleep.

Skipper stayed on the windowsill for a few more minutes before returning to the penguin habitat. Today, then tomorrow. And then they'd all come. Today, tomorrow, then they'd all come. And Sara would come with them.


	7. early hours

Skipper was up before everyone. It was day of the transfer. The day that everyone would come. He didn't know what to expect. He was nervous and stressed. He didn't know what each person was like. Sure he'd heard glimpses of characteristics. He had been told by Kowalski Rico and Private what some of the visitors might be like. They had tried to calm him down… but only succeeded with making his stress worse. Now on this morning his stress skyrocketed.

Because he didn't know. He didn't really, truly know what these people would be like. Part of him was ready, part of him was ready to deal with everyone and except what came. Then there was a part of him that wasn't ready. A part of him that was begging for one more day to really think things through. If he really _could_ handle things or not. The last part was afraid. He was afraid that he wouldn't be enough. That he wouldn't be able to calm tensions or keep sanity. Heck he didn't even know if he'd be able to hold onto his own sanity!

He was pacing the HQ, walking back and forth in front of the table. He was thinking. Trying to figure out if there was any problem he'd missed. Any reaction he didn't look at. Any situation he hadn't thought about and solved. He ran all the others over in his head. He ran what he knew about the families over in his head as well.

At least he knew what they _could_ be like.

Mason's brother Stanly was unorganized, obnoxious, loud, and rude.

Marlene's brother was a pain, stealing things, annoying people, cocky, and clever.

Kowalski's father had Down syndrome.

Private's sister was a first class brat, prep, annoyance.

Bada had a brother, Kantak, who was a very intolerant, born without patience kind of person.

The ostriches each had a brother. They said no more than that.

Ted had a nice, patient, but protective sister named Jane.

That was all he knew. He didn't have a clue to if his family was the same. He didn't know if the people who were coming today were tolerant or patient or sane. He didn't know if they were weak or strong or good or evil or intolerant or impatient or bossy or easily ticked off or quiet or loud, obnoxious trustworthy, happy, sad, angry, unemotional, giddy, goth, punk, naïve, smart, stupid, talented, sneaky, light footed, complainers, incompetent, crazy (literally mentally ill), psychotic, insane, or if they could fight or not. He didn't know anything. Only what they could be. Not what they were. They could be very different now than as remembered. Life changes people. People grow up and learn. Things they learn, situations experienced, sights seen. It all changes one's outlook on life. On the people around them. Skipper himself had been changed a lot by life. He may have gotten glimpses of who people were. But they were meaningless to him. He had to see it with his own eyes. Because he knew what life did to people. How people changed. It had taken him three weeks to realize that… Sara wasn't going to be the Sara he remembered. And Sam and Sammy and Steve, his mother and father… they had all gone through life too. Who knows how much they had changed. He knew they weren't the same all along, he just never accepted the fact. He didn't want it to be true. But while he paced the HQ, he realized that it was true. He had to face it now. His family wasn't the same now as it was back then. Neither was Kowalski's or Private's or Mason's or Marlene's or Ted's or the ostriches. Everyone changes. Maybe Kowalski's father was cured, maybe Private's sister grew up, maybe Mason's brother gained some morals and manners, maybe Ted's sister had gone insane. Maybe everyone had changed. Then again… maybe they hadn't.

Skipper was still pacing when Private woke up. He looked over at the clock. It was five fifteen a.m. today families would come. Private smiled at the thought. The smile was quickly wiped from his face as he realized that was what Skipper was pacing about. He jumped out of his bunk and walked over to Skipper.

Skipper didn't even realize Private woke up. He was too busy running situations, solutions, and problems through his head that he fell out of the world around him. He didn't notice anything. He walked back and forth in front of the table like he was programed to do so. He had always walked in a straight line so it wasn't very hard. He was still thinking, still stressing.

Private watched Skipper walk to and fro, back and forth, for a while. He thought that maybe if he stood there for a few minutes Skipper would notice him. But that didn't happen. Private was concerned. Skipper had been spacing out like this all week. But something about this time was different. Something really didn't feel right this time. Private didn't know what it was. It gave an eerie sensation to the room. Maybe it was the look in his eyes. The other times that Skipper spaced out this week his eyes were blank, unemotional, eyes of a thinker. This time… his eyes were fierce, focused, and tired. Private could see the stress that had to be going through Skipper just from looking at his eyes. Private could see how tired Skipper was. His eyes were bloodshot. Skipper was tired. Private could see it. Skipper had slept, Private knew that. He hadn't heard the hatch or door open; they usually gave off a small creaking noise when opened. So why did he look so tired?

Private walked in front of Skipper and grabbed his shoulders when he came close.

Skipper looked up, startled. He didn't know Private was there. Where did he come from?

"Skippah? Are you ok?" Private asked concerned.

Skipper blinked at Private. Was he ok? He really didn't know. They hadn't even arrived yet and he could already feel his sanity running away from him. It was a scary realization.

"Skippah?" Private asked again more concerned. He let his flippers fall from Skipper. Skipper was coming out of his trance. That was a good thing. Skipper had been spacing out for longer and longer periods of time in the past week. He was starting to _really_ concern Private. Skipper hadn't spaced out before the news of every ones family coming, so Private had a rough idea of what Skipper was thinking about. It was still concerning to Private because the entire world faded away when Skipper went into a trance. That was the scariest part.

Skipper shook it off and looked back at Private. He was worried, Skipper could see it. He felt bad for doing that to Private. He was fine, really. He was. He just couldn't stop thinking about who was what and what they would do or how they'd destroy the sanity of the zoo. What everyone would do to the zoo, if they'd all get along or if he'd be up all night every night trying to solve every problem this family frenzy threw at him. He felt tired and fatigued just thinking about it. "I'm fine. Private," Skipper responded finally.

"No," Private looked down, "You're not," He replied solemnly. It was obvious that something was bothering Skipper. But he wasn't going to tell. He never did. That was one of Skippers problems. He kept everything to himself most of the time. It wasn't good for him. Not for his heart, his soul, _or_ his mentality.

Skipper sighed. He didn't want Private to worry about him. Private _shouldn't_ worry about him. It wasn't necessary, yet Private worried anyway. Like it was his job, but it wasn't. Skipper couldn't let his stress worry Private. Private didn't deserve that. "You're right," He said almost unaudibly.

Everything was silent, so Private was able to hear him. "Then what's bothering you Skippah?" Private asked desperately. He didn't like to see Skipper so stressed out. Skipper didn't have to worry about everything right away. He didn't have to think about everything all at once. It wasn't necessary for him to do that. And it was only made worse when there was something bothering him. Messing in his mind, bouncing around his thoughts. That never helped. Private wanted to know what was bothering Skipper. He wanted to be able to tell Skipper not to think so much, that everything would be ok. that nothing bad would really happen. Of course, most of the time he'd be wrong. Still, it wasn't healthy for Skipper to think about everything all at once. To stress himself so much. Even Kowalski said so.

Skipper looked away towards the corner of the room. He didn't know how to say it. He let his "I-" he hesitated. Then he decided to just let his mouth run. "I don't know what I'm going to do Private. I know- I just know that everyone is going to have a problem with someone else. Everyone is going to start someone. Because life changes people. The way you remember someone might not be who they are now. Everything could've switched around. Angels turn evil and devils turn good. That's what life can do. But some people don't change at all. It's hard to predict who changed or will start fights and how to fix the problems caused or stop fights that were started. Fix domestic problems and family feuds. It's… very complicated. And stressful," Skipper explained as calm as he could. Just thinking about the problems that could be brought up today, just today, came close to shorting his mind out.

"You don't have to do it alone," Private said reassuringly. Skipper didn't have to fix everything all by himself. Private would help him. Skipper didn't need to stress himself out. Certainly not like this. He just didn't need to do that.

"No, Private I want you to enjoy your family. Not have to come with me to solve everyone else's problems," Skipper said. Private probably had a family that wanted to see him. Skipper knew that his family would probably be fighting a lot. He didn't know why either. He just had a bad feeling.

"Yes," Private said forcefully, "I want to help you Skippah. I don't want you to have to do everything on you own. I want to do it with you. I can make my family understand," He explained calmly. He would make his family understand. But he wasn't going to let Skipper solve everything by himself. That wasn't going to happen. No one needed to do things on their own all the time. Skipper couldn't do this by himself. Even if it was just helping Skipper keep his sanity, Private was going to help.

"No, you aren't going to do anything. Take a break Private-"

"Only if you do," Private argued.

"This isn't up for discussion Private," Skipper said with authority.

"Yes it is," Private snapped. "I'm going to help you. If you don't want me to do anything, then you can't do anything either."

"Private I don't need your help," Skipper hissed, becoming aggravated. Sometimes he wished Private would just give up. Private backed down usually. But there were times when he just wouldn't back off. This was one of those times. And it was starting to get on Skippers nerves.

"Yes you do," Private countered.

"Fine. Then I don't want your help."

"That doesn't matter. I want to help you. And I'm going to."

"No you're not."

"You can't stop me Skippah. I'm going to help you."

"No Private," Skipper growled.

"Skipper you can't do everything on your own," Private replied forcefully.

"I can do this on my own," Skipper replied.

"No you can't. You know it and I know it," Private stated, getting annoyed himself. Skipper didn't know how to accept help. Or to give up for that matter.

"You don't know anything," Skipper hissed.

"I do to. You don't know when you need help. You can't do this on your own Skippah. Do you know how many people are coming today?"

"I'm very aware Private," Skipper replied trying not to blow up at Private.

"Then you know. You need someone to help you."

"Private I do not need help!" Skipper shouted aggravated.

"Yes you do!" Private shouted back annoyed. Skipper needed help. They both knew it. Skipper was just being stubborn.

"Private, don't help me in any way! That's an order!" Skipper ordered.

"No! And if it's an order. Than-than-than I'm not going to listen to it! I'm going to help you and that's final!" Private shouted angrily. Skipper needed help. He was going to help whether Skipper wanted him to or not.

Skipper growled at Private. Who- why did he have to be so difficult? He didn't want to spend time with his family? "Don't you want to spend time with your family?" Skipper hissed, turning away frustrated.

"You are family," Private replied flatly.

That surprised Skipper. He was family. Did Private really see him that way? Skipper knew he'd called them brothers, but it was just a saying. Brother meant a real close friend. Did Private mean brother like family? Really? It was touching. Something that Private was always good at. Saying things that were touching, nice, and or loving. It was a talent of his to bring hope and feeling back to those who had lost their hope and feeling. How to make someone realize something. Skipper realized something. Private was willing to give up his family to help. That showed how much he really cared. "Fine," Skipper sighed.

"You mean…?" Private asked hopefully.

"Yes," He turned back to Private and smiled, "You can help if you must."

Private smiled. He knew he'd be able to get permission one way or another. It was usually through annoyance. But this time he was able to use force. Not fighting. Argumental force.

Kowalski and Rico had been woken up buy the argument. It was now six o'clock in the morning. Time to get up anyway.

Skipper reached over and slapped Private. He was still grinning.

"Ow," Private squeaked. He rubbed his cheek.

"Next time don't be so sassy," Skipper said. He half smiled at Private.

Private was forced to smile. He won. He was going to help Skipper. A slap wasn't too bad anyway. It still hurt though.

Kowalski was going to ask why Skipper slapped Private and what they were arguing about when they heard a thump. They all froze.

Another thump. And another. It was time. The transfers were arriving.

_**Sorry it took a bit to update. I've had some trouble with motivation. But not to worry it shouldn't be a big problem for a while. Now finding words is a whole different ball game. Anyway, I hoped you enjoyed the chapt. ^_^ **_


	8. crates

They sat for a while, waiting for another box to be thrown into the habitat. But no other _thumps _were heard. Only two crates had been thrown onto the island.

Skipper walked towards the ladder and stopped in front of it. He didn't want to go up, but he knew he had to. He had to figure out who had just been put into their habitat. He was curious too. He wanted to know, but he didn't. It was confusing, how conflicted he felt. How he was curious but afraid. He wasn't really afraid; it was more of a nervous feeling than fear. He still had to go up. He grabbed onto to ladder but was stopped.

"I know who it could be," Private stated. His mother had disappeared when he was younger. It was probably his father and 2 sisters. Though, he didn't know if he wanted it to be them. He was afraid to find out what they had become.

Skipper looked over at Private. "And who might that be?" He asked.

"Britney, Dalia," Private replied, "And Pop."

"Britney, Dalia, and Pop?" Kowalski asked skeptically.

"Yup Britney, Dalia, and Pop. My sisters and father," Private replied confidently.

"Oh, so it's your family?" Kowalski asked.

"Mmhmm. It has to be," Private answered.

Skipper was still standing at the ladder. He wasn't sure all the crates were done plopping down onto the island outside. Maybe the humans just went back to get more. Who knows? Skipper had a bad feeling about today. A very bad feeling.

_Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump, thump, thump, thump, thump, thump, thump. Thump, thump._

Skipper looked up at the hatch. That was a lot of thumps. A whole mess load of them. Every penguin's family was now here. Skipper felt metallic butterflies fill his stomach. Metallic butterflies with death spikes on their wings and jet packs on their backs, flying around his stomach at a million miles a minute, banging into the walls and making him feel awful dizzy. One of them had escaped and was now flying around in his head, giving him the worst headache. No one could stop it know, whatever it was. The first domino had fallen and now they would have to live through whatever was coming their way. The next two months could be a, wonderful, or B, a living breathing, little piece of the burning, painful, miserable place known as hell. In other words, a nightmare. By the way his stomach was feeling, Skipper was thinking that the next two month were going to lean towards B. He really hoped this time, he was wrong. He really wasn't in the mood to deal with hell for the next two months.

Kowalski and Private stopped mid-conversation and turned, wide-eyed, towards the hatch. They were both surprised and nervous. Everyone was here now. Every penguin anyway. The habitat was ready; everything was clean and organized. Nothing was lying out in the open. But the real question was…were they ready? They had been excited to see their families, but now that their families had arrived, they weren't so sure.

Rico wasn't very worried, he had confidence that whatever was coming they would be able to handle.

Skipper hadn't been sure of anything for the past three weeks, nothing changed. Well, except the fact that everything was about to happen. He would find out what happened to his family and what they turned into. Truthfully, he didn't know if he'd be able to handle it. It could even be said that he was scared. But he had to know. And he couldn't leave them in the crates for two months. HE took a deep breath and placed a flipper on the ladder. He started to climb. Did he really want to be the first to see them? Did he really want to know how everyone turned out? And what about Kowalski's father? Did he really have Down syndrome? Was Privates sister really still a brat? Did he want to be the first to find out? He continued to climb. It didn't matter. Whether he wanted it or not, he was going to open every one of those crates. It didn't matter who was inside, or what they said. He was opening every one of those crates. Period.

When he got up to the top he was surprised at how many crates there were. There looked to be about twenty of them, a little less maybe. Bottom line was…there was a LOT of crates up there. He was having second thoughts about everything. He tried to push them aside as he walked up to the closest crate and tentatively placed his flippers along the edges. Taking a few deep breaths, he pulled the side of the crate until it popped open.

"Well it's about time!" Someone, a female (a very bossy sounding female) shouted impatiently. "Do you know how long I've been stuck in this stupid undersized, good for nothing box!" she complained, storming out of the crate.

Skipper stared at her, not knowing what to say. He really had no clue how long she had been in there. The first thought that actually hit his mind was, _Britney._ She sure sounded like a Britney. Bossy, impatient, kind of bratty sounding. Like she had been spoiled her entire life. The second thought was that he really didn't want to have to deal with her much. She was about Private's height, a little taller, with dark blue eyes and a pink bow on her head. She looked like a Britney too. Skipper never really connected moods and appearances with names until today. Britney really fit her. He shook it off and started walking to the next crate.

"Excuse me!" The female barked. "Aren't you going to tell me where on earth I am?" She demanded.

Skipper turned to her. "Manhattan New York," He informed. "Central Park Zoo."

She stared at him clueless for a second. "Where the devil is that?"

"Northeast section of the United states," Skipper replied, trying to get her to leave him alone. He had better things to do.

She rolled her eyes. "Do you know who I am?" She asked impatiently.

"No," Skipper said calmly, "And I really don't care." He walked to the next crate and placed his flippers on the edges.

The female growled and walked off to the edge of the island. "Why is this place so freaking small!" She shouted.

Skipped flinched. Yeah. He really hoped he wouldn't have to deal with her. He pulled the side off the crate and turned to go to the next one.

"Hey," it was a male, "Where am I?" he asked.

"Northeastern United States, New York, Manhattan, Central Park Zoo," Skipper replied, walking to the next crate. He was interrupted.

"No need to be formal kid," the guy said.

Skipper looked over at him. He was tall like Kowalski, but he was built. He wasn't 'pumped' but there was definitely some muscle on this guy. A white cigarette poked out of his beak, smoke rising and disappearing into the air. He had smoky grey eyes and a bored look on his face. He was leaning up against the crate taking puffs of his cigarette. There was also a red tattoo on his left flipper. It looked like a skull with flame around it and red vines climbing up his shoulder and disappearing around his neck. First thought… Junkie. "Does it bother you?" Skipper shot back at the guy. He gave Skipper an uneasy feeling.

"Hey," the guy said coming off of the crate, "Don't get snappy. I was just tellin' you somthin. You don't have to get all heated up." He stepped towards Skipper, throwing his cigarette on the cement and putting it out with his foot.

"I'm a little busy," Skipper said walking to the next crate.

"Who said you have to free 'em?" the guy asked.

"Why do you care?" Skipper countered.

"I was just curious," the guy replied, "is it your job? Are you some sort of laborer here or something?"

Skipper froze. Why would this guy think he was a laborer? "No. I'm being polite." He didn't think this guy had 'polite' in his vocabulary.

"Fine. Names Barry by the way," He said walking away.

Skipper sighed, grateful to get away from that guy. Barry. Barry or Berry? HE shrugged. It really didn't matter. He didn't want to do much talking to that guy anyway. He focused on the crate in front of him and pulled the side off.

"Thank ye' young man," A woman said with a British accent.

Skipper watched a small stout penguin walk out of the crate. She was a little taller than Private, polite like him. She has light blue eyes. Skipper thought that this had to be Private's mother. Skipper nodded his head in acknowledgement.

"Can ye' talk?" She asked.

"Yes," Skipper replied. He thought about it. When he did, she sounded more Irish. She was still very polite. She sounded like one of those sweat older people. If she was, then she would really help when things got rough. Sweat older people usually were good at being calming factors. He smiled at her.

"Such a nice young un' ye arre. Oh yes," The woman said. "Such manners ye have, openin that crate for lil' ol me. Hope it wasn't too much a trouble for ya," she babbled.

"None at all," Skipper replied politely. He smiled (against his will) at her. She was very nice, in a naïve way. Like Private. Exactly like Private.

"Oh, well that be a good thing, dearie. I'm going te' let ye get back to your crate openin now," She said walking away. "Thank ye for all your help."

"It was no problem," Skipper said after her. He turned back to the crates and walked to the next one. He pulled off the side easily and placed it on the ground. He walked over to another crate and was about to pull the side off.

"Hey," a guy, sounding like another junkie, called from the crate Skipper had just opened, "That's some kind of welcome you got."

"Sorry I can't accommodate to your needs," Skipper grunted, pulling off the side of another crate. He head a small, 'thanks' from inside and nodded in response.

"Never said you had to," The guy replied, "Name's Sam, you are?"

"Skipper," Skipper replied not thinking. He moved to the next crate and started pulling on the side.

"Skipper huh? Haven't heard that name in decades," Sam said slyly. "How ya been bro?"

"Bro?" Skipper asked himself. No. No it couldn't be. He turned around and stared at the penguin. Could it? The penguin had a cigarette in his flipper. He had a black tattoo that wound around his neck and continued down his arm, turning red when it reached the black feathers of his shoulder. There was another tattoo on his foot. It was a laughing skull on fire. There was a black ring drilled into his beak. The eyes were darker shades of blue. Yes shads, Skipper couldn't believe his eyes. One eye was darker than the other. "Sam?" He asked surprised.

"Yes, I just said that didn't I?" Sam snapped. "So I see you've grown up to be a kiss up," he stated.

"I'm not being a kiss up," Skipper objected. "I'm choosing not to let these people sit in crates all day."

"Kiss up," Sam repeated.

"Whatever," Skipper replied and moved back to the crate. He didn't want to deal with Sam right now. Sam had always picked on him and he just wasn't in the mood. He opened the next seven crates only receiving 'thank you' s and nothing else. He didn't mind that though. He didn't feel like talking anyway. The metallic butterflies in his stomach wouldn't leave him alone. Nor the one in his head. He almost fainted once, but almost only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades, so he continued on. He opened the last crate and was assaulted with a hug.

"I missed you!" a girl squeaked, "I missed you so much!" She hugged him tightly.

Skipper was completely shocked and speechless. He didn't know who it could be or who would have such a reaction. No one had done that to him un such a long time. The only one who had ever done that to him was Sara when he got out of the hospital when he was younger. Then it hit him. He felt so stupid. "Sara?" he asked, wrapping his flippers around her.

"Skipper I missed you so, so much," She cried.

"Sara?" Skipper asked again. He felt tears behind his eyes. Yes, yes it had to be her. His wish had been answered. Sara hadn't changed a lot. Or at least she was still Sara. The nervousness that had been harassing his stomach evaporated and his headache disappeared. He smiled and hugged her tighter. Sara. It felt so nice to be with her again. He felt a wet drop fall onto his shoulder. Tears.

"I missed you," Sara cried quietly. "I missed you every day."

Skipper couldn't take it anymore, he let the tears fall. But he wasn't sad, he didn't think Sara was either. They were happy. And they were both crying happiness. "I missed you too," he said softly. Things might not be as bad as he thought. Sara was still Sara. His childhood friend was still there. He could take everything else now that he knew he still had his childhood friend.

That fact would be tested many, many times in the next two months. This was only day one.


	9. a new twist

_**Just to clarify, I watch the episode Huffin and puffin, I know Skipper said he didn't have a sister but I started this story before the episode aired, and Skipper could've been lying to save his sister, he's like that you know. And I have been to NYC many times I know the stars are impossible to see, but Skipper doesn't live in the real world so I thought it would be nice since I put that in his past if he could see the stars at night.**_

_**Anywho, I've been a bit stuck with this story and do apologize if the chapter isn't the best. I hopes you likes it anyways though! ^o^**_

Sara jumped into the HQ excitedly, she hadn't seen her family in such a long time and was curious to find out what they'd become.

Skipper watched her go. He wasn't so sure about going inside. He was afraid to find out what the rest of his family was. He already knew Sam was the complete opposite of what he was when they were younger. He was still a jerk, but he was a junkie too now. Learning that didn't make meeting anyone else any more inviting.

He sighed, he really didn't have a choice though. Sooner or later he was going to have to find out who was who. Sooner or later. It was better to get it over with now when everyone had just arrived. HE took a deep breath and jumped into the HQ. He never thought so many people would be able to fit in such a small space.

He surveyed the room and found that everyone had found their respected relatives. The girl with the pink bow was in fact one of Privates sisters. There was another penguin with a blue bow standing next to Private along with a taller penguin, who had to be the father. The little stout woman That Skipper had though t to be Privates mother was instead standing with Rico, along with another penguin who was just about Kowalski's height. He didn't look too happy, and seemed to be making Rico nervous. That surprised Skipper, mostly because Rico didn't get nervous about a lot of things. Kowalski was standing in a different corner of the room with three other penguins; one was whispering something in his ear. She was the same height as Kowalski with green eyes. Another penguin, who was a little taller than Kowalski was helping someone, who Skipper speculated to be Kowalski's father, stay on his feet.

And then there was his family. They were all in the corner, and the only one who looked happy was Sara. Though Sara's smile was slowly fading away.

"No!" Rico shouted.

Skipper looked towards Rico just in time to see his father charging at him. He ducked, missing Rico's father's fist by a fraction of an inch. It was for nothing because the next second he was grabbed around the neck and held up to the wall.

"What did you do to my son!" The man demanded. He had a low rough voice, like a military Sargent's.

Skipper grabbed at the flippers around his throat trying to clear a way for air to pass so he could answer the man. "Nothing," He croaked.

"Don't tell me that crap!" Rico's father shouted.

Rico ran to his father and tried to pull him off Skipper. He didn't want him to kill Skipper. Skipper really didn't do anything. Skipper saved him from dying, that's what he did. If Skipper hadn't been there more than his voice would be gone. And if Kowalski had never put some of his voice back together he wouldn't even have a voice. He personally liked his voice. "Dad don't!" he pleaded.

Rico's father pushed his son back, out of the way.

Skipper didn't want to hurt the man, but he really didn't want to die either. "If you would kindly remover your hands from my throat I'd be able to explain," he coughed.

"I don't have arms smarty," The man hissed. By this time everyone had gone silent and was watching the event unfold.

"Flippers," Skipper corrected himself.

"And what if I don't?" The man challenged pushing Skipper further into the wall.

"I could make you," Skipper replied. He wasn't lying. He didn't feel like being choked. He didn't wake up today with intentions of getting himself killed. He would explain truthfully what happened to Rico from beginning to end. He didn't have a problem with that. He did however have a problem with being held to a wall by his neck and not being able to breathe. That wouldn't exactly sit well with anyone though.

Rico's father let out a horse laugh. He brought his face close to Skippers. "I'd love to see you try," he growled.

"I actually don't think you would," Skipper choked out. He really didn't want to hurt the man. All in all he didn't seem too bad. He just wanted to know what happened to his son. That was understandable.

"Don't play with me boy," Rico's father replied venomously.

"I'm not, I just don't want to hurt you if I don't have to," Skipper replied honestly.

"You can't get yourself out of this. You're just like the rest of them. Weak and spineless."

"Who exactly are they?" Skipper asked, fighting the rising anger.

"Every one of these things, especially that one," He replied pointing at Private. "A weakling if I ever saw one."

Skipper pulled his legs up around the man's arm and lulled them down, bending his arm so that it released his neck. He pulled the other arm from his neck and jumped around the man taking the two arms with him. Twisting his arms behind his back, Skipper pinned Rico's father to the wall. "Now I can explain what happened to Rico, but if you insist on being impulsive then we're going to have a lot of problems. And no one in this room is weak and spineless, Got it!" Skipper hissed.

No one said anything or moved, shocked by what had just happened.

Skipper released Rico's father and took a few steps back, not taking his eyes off of him.

Rico's father turned around and stared at Skipper. "You have a lot of power for such a small man," He finally said. "Tell me, how. You don't look very strong at all."

Skipper relaxed his position. He knew this guy wasn't so bad. He had the feeling that he was just angry.

"Yeah Bro you look like a weakling to me," Sam retorted.

Skipper rolled his eyes. "Thank you Sam," he said sarcastically.

"So what happened to me son dearie?" Rico's mother asked. "Oh and me names Martha by the way. And he's Jack. May you excuse is rage, he's just worried about our dear Rico," She added.

"Before that, what's the name boy?" Jack said stiffly.

"Skipper," Skipper replied a little confused. Everything seemed to calm down a little too quick.

"So, Skipper, what happened to my son?" Jack demanded.

Skipper took a deep breath. "He almost died. In short, he was attacked by someone who disappeared since the incident," Skipper explained.

"Technically, if Skipper wasn't there Rico would've died," Kowalski added.

"Explain," Jack replied.

"Well, while trying to defeat this enemy-"

"Who is this enemy?" Jack asked forcefully.

"We swore an oath to keep that classified," Kowalski replied.

"By who?" Martha asked.

"Me," Rico replied. He never wanted to remember the man. He was an evil, evil man, who gave him nightmares. He was always afraid that one day he'd return to wreak havoc once again.

"Alright then, Continue," Jack stated.

"Ok, while trying to defeat this enemy Rico was thrown out of a window approximately eight thousand feet high, heading for a pool of water filled with many deadly sharp rocks. It wouldn't have been so bad if Rico wasn't half unconscious. Which was why Skipper jumped out after him. He grabbed Rico and pulled him towards the very outskirts of the pool of water. Rico missed every rock that would've killed him, but landed on a smaller one which punctured his neck and badly cut his face. We were able to sew up his face but I had to surgically reconnect his vocal cords. Some of them were too damaged to fix which is why his vocal ability is limited. He does however have his own language, and the three of us know in like the back of our flippers," Kowalski explained scientifically. "But he's fine now," He added. "Completely…Rico normal."

"Rico normal?" Jack asked skeptically.

"Oh my poor baby!" Martha cried clinging to Rico.

"Ma-aa," Rico replied embarrassed.

"Yeah that's harder to explain," Skipper stated.

"Why?" Sam tormented. "Is it too much for your little brain to comprehend?"

"No," Skipper shot back trying very hard to keep himself from growling at him, "Rico is a loose cannon type of person. He's not normal, because he has more of a wild nature than any normal person would. Rico is Rico. The only one who seems to care about that is you." Skipper crossed his arms and stared at his brother with narrowed eyes. He'd be a problem, Skipper saw it coming.

"Oh well sor-ry, Mr. kiss up," Sam replied.

Skipper took a deep breath. "I'm not a kiss up," He said with exhausted patience.

"Uh, yeah you kinda are," Sam retorted, "You help people outa crate, don't wanna hurt nobody, willing to do anything for anyone."

Skipper couldn't deal with Sam. He had gotten little sleep last night and his patience had already been cut short by Jack pinning him to the wall. He looked Sam in the eye. "First, I wouldn't like to be stuck in a crate all day and I doubt you would too, it's not called kissing up its called being polite, you should try it some time. Second if you only knew what I could do to people you'd understand why I don't hurt people unless it's necessary. And third I am not willing to do anything for anyone, if I do something there has to be a good reason behind it. I told Jack what happened to Rico because Rico is his son, and he deserved to know. Is there anything else you'd like to try or are you finished?" Skipper replied as calmly as he could.

"Nah, I'll think of something," Sam replied calmly.

"Yay!" A voice cried out. Everyone turned to the voice. Kowalski winced already knowing who it was.

"Jeffry," the woman standing next to him said softly, but sternly. "Jeffry calm down."

"Yay! Ahaha," Jeffery continued. His tongue hung from his mouth.

Kowalski stood stone still with his eyes closed feeling everyone's stare. It was agonizing to hear his father like that. His father had been normal for the first few years of his life, but all of a sudden he had Down syndrome. It was proven that that was what was wrong with him. But Down Syndrome was a lifelong disease that you had to carry from birth until you died. Kowalski remembered when his father was normal. He remembered like it was yesterday, when his father was completely normal. He missed that. That's when he plunged himself into science. Right after his father was diagnosed with Down Syndrome. And he's been looking for a cure ever since. While making other inventions he's always tried to figure out what happened and why. Trying constantly to find a cure. But nothing ever worked.

All of a sudden Kowalski began to have a headache. It was very odd because he never had headaches. He got frustrated but never had headaches. He didn't remember that last headache he had, it had been so long. He tried to ignore it and focus on something else, but there wasn't much to focus on. The headache was getting worse on top of that. He clenched his jaw and tried to think of something else besides the banging pain in his skull. But he couldn't think of anything and could only focus on the banging in his skull that quickly turned to throbbing, and then to a full blown migraine. He tried to stand still and give no hints to the pain in his skull, but it was very difficult. He pushed on his forehead with one of his flippers. He really hated headaches.

Skipper looked over at Kowalski. He didn't look to good. In fact he looked like he was in pain. He walked over to Kowalski and put a hand on his shoulder. No one notice because they were all staring curiously at Jeffry. "Kowalski?" He asked carefully, "You ok?"

Kowalski looked up at Skipper. He was about to answer when he heard a voice.

"You want to know what's wrong with him," it said. It sounded like a phantoms. Far away and scratchy.

Kowalski jumped startled. He looked around frantically trying to figure the source of the voice. There was no sign of speakers anywhere. No one else seemed to react to the voice. That frightened him the most. "Did you hear that?" He asked Skipper.

Skipper looked skeptically at Kowalski. Something was wrong with the scientist. But what could that be. It wasn't his father, he didn't look embarrassed or anything, it wasn't how everyone was staring, he wasn't annoyed. He looked more scared than anything else. "No…why?" Skipper asked slowly.

Kowalski looked around nervously.

"No one else hears me fool," the voice shouted out again.

Kowalski jumped, becoming more nervous. He wanted to know what the vice was but he was too afraid to ask.

"Ha ha ha. Foolish child you have naught to fear. I cannot hurt you. Yet."

"Kowalski?" Skipper asked concerned.

Kowalski jumped at the sound of Skippers voice. "Um.. uh.. I'm… I'm sorry, I just… have to go… for a minute. Excuse me," He stuttered. He ran out of the HQ and out of the zoo. Across the park and into the sewers. He stopped in one of the deserted sections of the underground system and sat against the wall.

"Scared?" the voice taunted. "You have many reasons to be."

Kowalski swallowed his fear and asked in a shaky voice, "Who-who are you?"

"Ha Ha! I am the only one person who can help you."

"With what?" Kowalski asked. His fear grew with every passing second, for more than one reason. He was alone, in an abandoned part of the sewers, talking to a mysterious voice that only he could hear.

"More of that later. I will let you tell only one person of me. Only one or you and your family will die."

Kowalski gulped, that didn't sound too good. "OK," He replied fearfully.

"Good. Now I know how to cure your father. He was cursed, and I know how to break the curse he is in. But you will have to do exactly what I tell you."

Kowalski nodded. Whoever the person was, he knew about his father. And if there was a way to cure his father then he was going to go for it. Fear or not, no one deserves to live in such a state of mind as his father.

"Go, tell your one trustie and return here at midnight." The voice commanded.

Kowalski waited for more, but the voice never spoke again so he got up and ran back to the zoo. Something was wrong with how this was being done. He wanted to know who that voice was and why he couldn't show himself. More than that though, he wanted to know how his father had gotten cursed, and why. He needed to know the whole story, including how this voice knew how to break the curse. This family reunion thing, was taking on a new twist. He never thought that he'd be in trouble right away.

The voice said he could only tell one person. Kowalski knew exactly who to tell.

He was about to jump into the zoo when Skipper dropped in front of him. He shrieked and fell backwards.

"Jeeze man," Skipper stated surprised at how jumpy Kowalski was, "what's the matter with you?"

Kowalski was relieved to see Skipper. "Skipper," He said urgently getting up. "Is any one with you?"

"No," Skipper replied. "They're all back at the HQ trying to calm _your_ father down."

"Good," Kowaslki sighed. "I need to tell you something."


	10. 10

_**Hiya peoples! ^^ you are probably sick of m apologizing by now but I really am sorry I haven't updated a lot of my stories. I haven't forgotten about any one of them I just took some time (still taking time on most of them) to get the story straight before continuing. So I really am sorry if you are mad and impatient or sad that I haven't continued. But here is the next chapter for this story! I hope you like. ^^.**_

_**Also JSYK in most of my stories I just say what Rico is trying to say in his dialogues, but anyone who can't understand his gibberish still doesn't understand him. Taking time to write the gibberish and then explain it overloaded my brain cells. And it was mucking up the story But that is why I decided a while ago not to do the gibberish. I don't know if I said that before or not. But I have now. ^^#**_

_**X_X-/~\_/~\_/~\_/~\_/~\_/~\-X_X**_

Skipper paced in front of Kowalski trying to understand everything the scientist had told him. It was very sudden and the details were very sketchy, but Kowalski wasn't one for jokes, tricks, or lies. Although with enough reason (Or scientific involvement) Kowalski was a very good liar. He stopped and stared at Kowalski, sizing him up; searching for any signs of trickery. Kowalski didn't have the excitement he usually had when he dealt with science, nor the normal nervousness that usually gave a liar away. No Kowalski looked genuinely frightened. It wasn't his normal frightened state either. He wasn't scanning the area for any sign of danger. Kowalski was just staring at him, nervously.

Skipper stared straight into Kowalski's eyes, neither one broke eye contact as they spoke. "Are you lying to me Kowalski?" he asked skeptically.

Kowalski sighed. "No. I'm not lying Skipper. Do you really think I could make something like this up?"

Skipper thought for a moment. No that wasn't like Kowalski. Kowalski didn't have the imagination to think up something like that. "So you're telling me, if I'm understanding this correctly, that someone, you don't know who, contacted you through…"

"Telekinesis."

"Right. And this person told you that if you did everything she told you to do, she would lift a curse off of your father?" Skipper asked bewildered.

"Yes."

"What happened to him?"

"It's a long story. But when I was younger he was a regular old dad and then all of a sudden he was mentally impaired. You have to help me Skipper, if he really is cursed then this might be my only chance to figure out why. And…And to make him normal again." Kowalski stared at the ground. He knew Skipper didn't believe in this sort of thing. Whoever the person was that had contacted him, they could've been tricking him, they could be lying to him just for the heck of it. They could be using him for some evil plot. He didn't know, and not knowing wasn't exactly Skippers favorite thing. Skipper liked to know, he liked to be in charge. Having to follow the orders of others wasn't his way of doing things. But he was the only one who could help him. Kowalski was sure of it.

"We'll need help Ko-"

"No, no one else can know Skipper," Kowalski interrupted nervously.

"Why not?" Skipper demanded, becoming very skeptical of the whole thing. It was very unlikely that Kowalski made all this up, but it wasn't impossible.

_Because I said so!_

Skipper jumped and carefully looked over the area. He didn't see anything or anyone. No one but Kowalski and himself. "Kowalski?"

Kowalski took a deep breath. "That was the voice."

_Surprised?_

"A little," Skipper replied, still looking around but not really searching.

_If you tell anyone about me or anything to do with you missions I will be forced to kill them. I promise._

"Delightful," Skipper retorted begrudged. "But we can't just disappear."

"Why not?" Kowalski asked. "You do that all the time."

"Yes, but never with any one you," Skipper snapped. He didn't like the idea. Missions. Whoever this person was they had plans for Kowalski and himself, and something told Skipper that it whatever these missions were, they were probably going to be very difficult.

"We don't necessarily have to tell anyone what we're doing," Kowalski suggested.

Skipper stared at him. "No, we don't," he agreed, "but if we just disappear they might come looking."

_Then tell them that you are leaving._

"Was that a suggestion or an order?" Skipper asked sarcastically.

_Since you asked I suppose I will make it an order. Tell them that you are leaving. And leave no room for questions. Just get what you need make your statement and get out. Easy._

Skipper rolled his eyes. But Kowalski had his mind set. It seemed he was going to follow this mysterious voice to find the cure to his father's curse with or without help. Skipper wasn't about to let him run off on his own.

They went back to the zoo and gathered a small sac of supplies. A world map and a collection of smaller maps of certain areas of the world, binoculars, knives, and other assortments of survival items. Skipper opened a small compartment in the wall and pulled out two swards. He handed both of them to Kowalski as Kowalski slung the sac over his shoulder. No one was in the HQ. Skipper assumed that they were all out exploring.

"Meet me at the Manhattan Bridge," Skipper ordered. He turned and took off towards the otter habitat.

Kowalski nodded as Skipper left and jumped out of the hatch. He left the Zoo and headed towards the bridge, trusting Skipper to do the leaving statement.

No one was at the otter habitat, so he took the long way back to the penguin habitat.

Skipper saw Rico pacing outside of the habitat. If he had the opportunity to stop and help him with his issue he probably would've. "Rico, Kowalski and I have to leave, we have something important to tend to. Tell everyone who asks where we are, and make sure you tell them not to look for us. We'll be back as soon as we can." Without waiting for hhis response he turned and slid out of the Zoo. He hitched a ride on the cabs of the city until he got close to the bridge. He walked the rest of the way.

Skipper met Kowalski at the bridge and took one of the swards from him.

_Very good. Now that things are settled I shall give you your first mission._

"Oh I can't wait," Skipper sighed.

_You don't like being ordered by others do you?_

"No, I don't, and I don't trust you either," Skipper snapped.

_Then this should be very interesting. Your first mission is in the Himalayas. When you get closer to the mountain I'll explain more._

**X_X-\_/~\_/~\_/~\_/~\_/~\_/~\_/~\_/~\_/~\_/~\_/-X_X**

"Oh dear," Private gasped, "What are we supposed to do?"

"I don't know," Rico shrugged.

"But everyone just got here! What was so important that they had to run off right away?" Private asked nervously. What were they going to tell everybody? And what about Kowalski's parents? Skippers family didn't seem to care much about him but Kowalski's did. "We have to tell them Rico," He said firmly. "They have to know that Skipper and Kowalski left."

"Good luck with that," Rico replied nonchalantly.

"I said 'we' Rico."

"Aw man, this is not going to go well, nuh uh."

When they walked into the habitat Marlene was there. She was pacing around the table nervously, with her front paws tangled together. She ran over to them as soon as they walked in. "Guys, guys! Where's Skipper I need his help," he said with nervous excitement.

"Um...well, you see," Private replied, he rubbed his flippers together trying to find the right way to say it. He gripped the floor with his toes, his stomach anxious about the response to the news he brought. "Skipper isn't here," he squeaked.

"Well of course he's not here!" Marlene grabbed Privates shoulders, "Where is he!"

"I…I don't know," Private sputtered, "he left earlier with Kowalski, he didn't say where he was going."

Marlene let him go and backed up. She started at Private for a few seconds. "You're joking right?" She laughed nervously.

"Nope," Rico replied confidently. "He said he and Kowalski had important matters to tend to, and to tell everyone not to go looking for them."

"What?" Marlene asked confused.

Private swallowed. "He left with Kowalski to tend to something. Said not to go looking for them."

Marlene growled and scurried out of the habitat. Everyone stared at Private and Rico for a while before Jack stepped forwards.

"I knew the kid was no good," he grunted. He crossed his arms and scowled. "Ran off with the poor boy."

"Who are you callin no good?" Maria snapped, stomping towards Jack. "And who said he ran off with the boy, Hmm? I heard that they both had a matter to tend to. That does not sound like he's no good to me." She stopped two feet in front of Jack with one flipper on her hip and the other poking his chest. "Now you tell me just what made him no good. Go on spit it out. Now say it."

Jack stared at her wide eyed, eyebrows raised, not knowing what to say.

"No? Nothin? Nothin at all? Then I suggest you keep you beak shut!" She growled.

Max walked up behind Maria and grabbed her flipper. "Leave the man alone woman," he ordered, "He ain't done nothing wrong."

Maria ripped her flipper away from Max and turned her anger towards him. "He ain't done nothing, what do you mean he aint done nothing wrong? Did you even hear the man? And don't call me woman, I am your wife and I demand more respect from you that that! Who do you think you are? Hmm?" She hissed.

"Fine, _Maria_, how do you know if he's good or not? You haven't been near him one day," he challenged confidently.

"Ignorance. You're full of it," Maria grumbled.

"I'm waitin for my answer."

"Well if you ask for it like that you're never gonna get it!" Maria replied. "You know what, don't talk to me. I don't even want to look at you. You and your corrupt children."

"They're your children too and there ain't nothing wrong with them," Max argued.

"I am not arguing with you Max, they are corrupt and the only reason you don't see it is because you are blind. And stop saying ain't, you are not from the slums even if you act it," she ordered. She looked over and Sam who was leaning nonchalantly against the ladder smoking a cigarette. "And You," She commanded marching over to him, "If I see you with one more cigarette in your mouth, I'll shove it down your throat." She yanked the cigarette out of his mouth and threw it on the floor. "They don't call them cancer sticks for nothing you know." She sighed, suddenly taking on the looks of a tired woman, made weak by rough times.

Martha came up to Maria and led her out of the room. "Come darling we have so much to discus."

Rico and Private shared a look of confusion.

"Remind me not to piss her off," Rico stated.

"Rico," Private scolded. "That's not very nice at all."

Everything was quiet for a while after that. Eventually everyone started to talk amongst themselves and soon the room was filled with murmurs of conversations.

Private and Rico stood silently watching them until a penguin with green eyes walked up to them.

"Could I speak with you guys for a short moment?" She asked quietly. She looked at them with tired eyes as she fidgeted with her flippers.

"Um… sure, I don't see why not," Private replied politely. He smiled at her.

They walked out of the room and the habitat to one of the café tables. It was late evening then and the sun had begun to fade behind the tall buildings of the city, casting long thick shadows over the zoo. The sky that could be seen through the skyscrapers was a deep purple to the west and a wonder display of pinks, oranges and reds to the east. The night air was settling in, a warmer temperature with a slight breeze, bound to get colder as the night wore on. The sounds of the city were loud as always, impatient car horns, the drumbeat of feet from people walking by, not to mention the other miscellaneous sounds found in the city.

The three of the sat at the edge of one of the tables. No one spoke for a while. Private and Rico were waiting for the green eyed penguin to speak before they said anything. She was sitting with her eyes closed enjoying the breeze. Neither one had any urge to say anything, so they waited patiently. It didn't bother them any. It was actually kinda nice not to be bothered by anyone.

Finally she said, "I'm Amy, Kowalski's sister." Her voice was quiet and sweet.

Private smiled at her. "I'm Private, and that's Rico."

Amy looked up at him. "You're Kowalski's friends right?"

"Yup," Rico answered confidently.

"And this Skipper…he's Kowalski's friend too?" She asked nervously.

"He is," Private replied.

"And he isn't going to hurt Kowalski then right?"

"Of course not! Why would he do that?"

"I'm just worried you know. My mother is busy with my father, who has been getting progressively worse since day one. And then Kowalski disappears with this Skipper, and not to be mean or anything but his family hasn't exactly given a very good first impression," She explained.

"Not really. He doesn't seem to like his family very much either. He told me that they weren't always like that. He was hoping they were better than what they are," Private stated.

"Hmm. Skipper…he seems like a very capable fellow. He'll keep Kowalski safe?"

"He'll do his best I'm sure."

"Will they get into a lot of trouble while they are…um, tending to whatever it is they are tending to?"

"I'm not sure, that depends on where they are going and why," Private replied. He knew they were capable of taking care of themselves. Still their story was very vague at best. A little more detail would've been nice.

"They won't die will they?" Amy asked suddenly very frightened.

"Of course not!" Private said shocked by the question. "Skipper said that they would be back so I don't think whatever they are doing is very dangerous at all."

"How can you be so sure?"

"Because they've never done anything extremely deadly," Rico reassured.

"I'm sorry, what did you say?" Amy asked confused.

"He said because they've never done anything extremely deadly before. I doubt they'd start now. It would be very untimely if they did."

"That's good," Amy sighed. "I suppose I have very little to worry about then."

"Very little," Private agreed.

"Yes…thank you for answering my questions, it was very nice of you." She smiled at them and jumped off the table.

They watched her as she walked back to the habitat.

"She was nice," Private stated.

"Yup."


	11. the cave

She walked over to the edge, the excitement and curiosity had come and goe and it was now time to get on to more important matters. Her family was a mess. Not that she really cared. This would be her last time with any of them and that didn't bother her. They were so incredibly ignorant and naive that they were hardly worth her time anyway.

Sara scanned the area. It was rundown, garbage by her standards. There were very few security cameras and the ones that were there most likely didn't actually work. They were just for show, so no one complained. That was a good thing at least. Without any working surveillance no one would ever see it, and it would never be recorded. That kind of took away the thrill of a successful op, but she couldn't do anything about it. She had a mission to complete and no time to even think about such a silly detail.

She had to find him…and kill him.

But where was he? He disappeared after looking for that tall fool. What's his name? Kowalski? He seemed to be having a bit of trouble with something. Not her problem. Her problem was Skipper. He needed to be dead in a few days before she had to move on. She hated following a target for mar than a week.

They had traveled for only a day when they reached the foot hills of the Himalayan Mountains. They found a small cave towards the bottom of the rocky terrain and decided to camp there for the night. In the morning they continued to climb until midday when the voice came back.

_If you continue forward about thirty yards there should be cave with a boar carved into the left wall. That will take you to where I need you to go. When you get there I will contact you again._

"Wonderful," Skipper grunted moving a rock out of the way. The slope of the mountain was getting steeper at an almost constant rate. They wouldn't be able to go any further soon if they continued on this path, so he didn't think they'd find a cave anytime soon.

He stopped and stared out at the sky. It was crystal clear, not a cloud to be seen. Bluer than any sky he'd ever seen. The air was crisp, cold, but clean air, at least compared to the air in the city. The mountains themselves were majestic. White toped beasts jutting out of the ground. As far as missions go, this wasn't the worst place in the world. It wasn't dark and moldy or filled with hidden enemies. He still had to watch out for any movement, but he didn't have to focus so much because whatever moved would most likely cause some rocks to fall giving away their position. All in all, not a bad place.

By nightfall they found the cave with the boar carved into the side. There was an unlit torch mounted on the right wall. After some work Skipper was able to get it lit and began to walk deeper into the depths of the cave.

Kowalski wasn't far behind. He was lost in his own thoughts while following Skippers every move. He was thinking about what this venture would accomplish and for the first time he actually thought about what the voice was proposing. The fact that whatever these missions did was going to cure his father seemed so impossible now that he actually thought about it. What could they possibly do to fix the damage that's been done? The easy answer was nothing. They couldn't do anything. Or so he thought. But this voice thought something different; that there actually was something of a cure in the works. It would help to know what they were hoping to gain from these missions. What were they looking for?

Skipper didn't bother to think about what going deep into the Himalayan Mountains would do because whatever it was, it would help Kowalski. Hopefully anyway. He still didn't know if he could trust this mysterious voice to lead them to whatever they needed, or whether it was just a trap. His senses were on full alert now that they entered the darker depth of the cave. There was no telling what they would find at the end of this tunnel.

They turned the corner and came upon the strangest cavern they had ever seen…

Everything was glowing with a mysterious blue light. The walls looked like frozen sand, the ground white as snow. On the ceiling were white stalactites speckled with sapphire stones that radiated a darker blue than everything else. Everything was deadly quiet; the only thing that was heard was the burning torch in Skipper's flipper. The air was still, the whistling wind outside didn't reach the deep blue cavern. There was a salty taste in the air that might've been coming from the strange stalactites. The most mysterious thing about the room had to be at its center. In the middle of the room was a two foot tall, one foot wide, light purple stone square. On top of that square was a bright lime green irregularly shaped crystal. It was relatively small, and protected from outside forces by a clear cylindrical barrier.

_You need to disarm the barrier and retrieve the crystal. It's a mind puzzle so don't try to manually break the barrier. There's a code you have to hack. Good luck._

Kowalski walked up to the stone square and poked it curiously. A puzzle huh? Couldn't be that hard. He'd solved many puzzles; there weren't many he couldn't figure out. The square unfolded to reveal a keyboard unlike any he'd seen before. It was a mix of numbered and colored keys. There were duplicated numbers with different colors. Three 4's, a yellow, a black, and green, five 1's, red, black, blue, purple, and white; there was a couple keys with two numbers, a 37 key, a 62 key. It was the oddest and most puzzling keyboard Kowalski had ever seen. The longer he stared at it the less confident he was that he would be able to solve this puzzle.


	12. Puzzles

Kowalski stared at the keyboard. What was he supposed to do with a keyboard? There was no screen or other device to indicate what puzzle he was trying to solve. He was left in the dark to guess. He hated guessing besides the last time he was left to guess at something he almost melted polar ice. No, that didn't end so well.

He looked around for hints and clues while skipper wondered about the cavern.

Skipper had no idea what he was supposed to do. He was mesmerized by the caverns odd characteristics. No cavern that he had ever ventured into had glowing walls and whiter than snow floors. He tapped the walls to see if they were real or if they were a part of some sick trick. They were stone cold and rock hard, nothing fake about them could be seen. They were real, mysterious but real. Skipper walked around the cavern and discovered that the back end of the cavern was different than the rest. The wall had thin stalagmites poking up from the floor. They had multi colored gems that went unnoticed before because they didn't emit a strange glow. These structures were like normal stalagmites except for their odd colored gems. He walked around the stalagmites and poked some of the stones, not to dislodge them or anything, just to see if they were lose or held tight to the pointed structures. None of them were lose at all, but he continued to walk around and poke until he discovered something odd. There was an indent in one of the stalagmites that looked like it used to house a stone. It must've fallen out at some point. Or maybe someone stole the stone.

Skipper thought that odd since all the other stones had been left alone. You'd think that if someone came to steal stones more than one would be missing. He walked around all the stalagmites and found no other indents, which meant that all but one gem were accounted for. He looked back at the crystal floating in the middle of the cavern, then back at the spot where the missing gem would go, and then back at the crystal. Something clicked within his head. There was one missing stone…and one crystal. What if the crystal belonged in that spot and nothing had been stolen at all. When he really thought about it, no burglar would come halfway up a mountain just to steal one stone. The crystal had to fit into that spot. The only way to find out was to figure out the puzzle, whatever that was, and place the crystal in the hole.

But solving the puzzle seemed to be harder that Kowalski thought it would be. Kowalski couldn't find any clues at all. All he had to work with was the mysterious keyboard and his poor guessing skills. He didn't know what he was going to do. If he pressed the wrong button, which was highly likely, he might kill them both, and that wasn't really an option for him. But then again, he couldn't go back to the zoo empty handed, their venture needed to have at least a small amount of success. He felt like Napoleon when he tried to conquer Russia, that this was turning into a great failure and if anything he would have to turn tail and run home. He didn't want to be that kind of failure. All of his achievements and passed accomplishments overshadowed by his monstrous mess up.

Skipper continued to study the gems and stalagmites. After a while he noticed something, a pattern of sorts. He walked around the stalagmites a few times to affirm his discovery; there was definitely a pattern in the works. It started with red… two red, three purples, one blue, five greens, the next stalagmite... two yellows, three oranges, one red, five purples, next stalagmite… two blues, three greens, one yellow and five oranges. This was the same for all the stalagmites, two of one color, three of the next, one of another, and five of another. It reminded him of a rainbow, red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple.

Of course! It was a rainbow! He studied the stalagmite with the missing gem and sure enough, if he followed the rainbow pattern, a green would go in that hole. The crystal was green; it had to be the missing piece. It was perfect. It was a green gem whose bottom looked to fit in the space. But that still left the puzzle to figure out.

Skipper walked over to Kowalski who was holding his head in his flippers.

"Hey, Kowalski," he called as he walked, "I found something." He thought it might be useful; Kowalski seemed to be having trouble with the solving of this puzzle, maybe the mysterious stalagmites would help. Who knows?

"Yeah," Kowalski sighed, not really paying attention, sinking further into self pity.

"I found something, come look."

Kowalski sighed, it was hopeless. "What is it, ice?" what was the point. Their venture had failed; the voice was a fraud who had tricked them both. His father was doomed for the rest of his life with being unable to converse normally because of the dementia brought on by the 'curse'. His father used to be so smart and happy. He was the best doctor in town and absolutely enjoyed his work. He created life saving medications and performed countless surgeries that prevented multiple deaths and stopped anyone from needing amputations, so even though he knew how to perform a successful amputation, he never needed to. But now he'll never be able to do any of that. Never again. Kowalski felt like a fool for ever believing he could do anything to change that.

Skipper wasn't fully paying attention to Kowalski. He grabbed the scientists arm and pulled him to the back of the cavern. "What do you make of 'em?" he asked studying the rocks. He was amazed by them really. He began to wonder where they came from and if someone had been here before and messed with the gems. He knew someone else had been here, obvious by the crystal held behind the clear cylindrical barrier, but had they created the stalagmites? And what was the purpose of all of it anyway?

"Of what Skipper?" Kowalski asked with discontent. He didn't see anything important. "They're just stalagmites, conical pillars rising from the cave floor with refined minerals protruding from their surfaces. What is there to make of?"

Skipper stared at Kowalski. He had already given up on the puzzle. "Kowalski why are we here if you're not even going to try?" Skipper asked him not accepting the fact that Kowalski had already given up. You don't give up this fast, not when it came to family.

"What's the point?" Kowalski countered.

Skipper thought about it. What was the point? "I thought your father was important to you?"

Kowalski suddenly felt very offended and jumped on to defense. "He is-"

Skipper continued, "I thought the 'point' of all of this was to cure your father."

"It was-"

"I was under the impression that you were willing to do anything to find that cure."

"I am but-"

"But you already threw in the towel and called it quits."

"I'm not quitting, it's just-"

"Then stop feeling sorry for whatever it is your sorry about and figure out this damn puzzle so we can move on to the next obstacle. The sooner we complete these stupid missions the faster we can get home and the sooner you can cure your father."

Kowalski remained silent. Skipper was right…somehow. But what was he supposed to do? There were absolutely no clues in this stupid cavern. None at all. He wasn't a magician, there was no such thing as magic anyway. He didn't have any tools to create something of use to aid in his search for clues. All there was were these stupid conical pillars.

"Now will you look at these things?" Skipper questioned.

"Fine." Kowalski replied begrudged. He sighed. "What am I looking at?"

Skipper explained the pattern on the stalagmites and pointed out the color code as well.

Kowalski stared at the stalagmites for a few seconds before he caught on to what Skipper had said. He walked around the pillars investigating the stones on their surfaces. Yes! This was it! He walked back to the keyboard. As soon as he hit the red 2 another section of the keyboard popped out. Strange as it was, Kowalski gave it little thought and continued to punch in colored numbers following the pattern of stones on the stalagmites. Skipper told Kowalski the next piece of the sequence, green 3, yellow 1, orange 5, until they finished the code. When the last piece was punched in the cylinder rose allowing them to collect the crystal.

Before the voice was allowed to give them further instruction Skipper snatched the crystal from Kowalski's flipper and walked over to the stalagmite with the missing stone. As he suspected the crystal fit perfectly. Kowalski walked over to Skipper as the stalagmites sank into the ground and the wall behind them disintegrated reveling what seemed to be a gigantic slide of sorts.

_Very good. Enjoy the ride boys._

Skipper grinned; he was starting to like this adventure. It was mysterious and just by the odd cavern they had been led to he could tell that wherever they went, they were going to be in for many surprises. He was actually excited for once, instead of paranoid. He should've been more concerned with what they would find next. However he wasn't. It had been too long since he went on one of these types of ventures. It really got his adrenalin pumping. He grabbed Kowalski, who was a million times less enthused to be going on this venture, and jumped down into the slide.

Private stared at her with fear. He could no longer hear the sounds of the city or noises from the zoo. The only thing he could hear was the rapid beating of his heart. He couldn't control his breathing anymore or his legs. He wanted to run, oh how badly he wanted to run, but his legs wouldn't move. He was frozen with bone chilling fear.

She seemed so nice and optimistic, like the girl Skipper had talked about, the one he always sat wit and counted the stars with. The one who actually knew how he felt about things. But that excited girl was a fraud, a mask, disguising the monster that stood before him.

She didn't know he was there. She was still ranting about murder and revenge and love, but not the love that his Pop once shared with his mother, but a more deceitful and dishonest love. And evil twisted love with a man who calls himself, Gaston. That wasn't so bad. What chilled Private was the murder part. She was looking for Skipper, to kill him, and then she would simply leave and go on to her next victim. Private had heard her describe at least six ways in which she could do so; tearing him limb from limb, paralyzing him and feeding him to sharks or sea lions, slashing his throat, burning him alive, drowning him, it was awful. She seemed to get some sort of pleasure out of just thinking about it. How a sister could do such awful things to her brother, her own flesh and blood, was incomprehensible to Private. His own sister was nagging and ill-mannered and bossy, and the other one was too shy to talk to him and had shown an increased level of fear ever since he told her about his fighting capabilities, but he would never even think to harm either one of them.

He wanted to leave a while ago but he couldn't. He just couldn't make his body move…so he listened.

"He'll reward me afterwards, and even if I can't dispose of him right away, I could always come back. Yes, I could. With an army of assassins ready to do my bidding. And then I will get the recognition I deserve. Besides without them I will be free to do whatever I wish. No more family hanging over my head. No one will ever be able to attempt to use them against me. How annoying it is to go through all the theatrics just to say I really don't even care about them. When they're dead I won't have to deal with it anymore. What a great day that will be. Hah. I still wish the odds were stacked against me. What fun is an op when there's hardly any challenge." Sara rambled to herself.

Private turned around and walked towards the end on the clock tower as quietly as he possibly could, grateful that his limbs had decided to work again. He silently slid off the tower and took off as soon as his feet hit the ground. His heart still racing and his breathing reduced to uneven gasps of air. What was he to do? Skipper was still off tending to...whatever, with Kowalski so they couldn't help at all. The only person who knows how to deal with a problem like this is Skipper. Skipper who thinks his sister is still his sister and who will retur not knowing anything. He'll walk right into her trap and die. He had to do something. He had to warn him, but how? He could try to stop Sara before she did anything but she seemed so strong and by the way she spoke Private knew that she'd have no issue killing him off as well. What was he supposed to do? He needed help, serious help. The first person he would go to was Rico. Rico would know what to do…hopefully.


End file.
